Quote:
Originally Posted by Inspired
I really could care less about PER because we already know Kobe can score offensively. My point was there is no reason for Kobe to score 30 points every night when he has 3 other super star on the team. Kobe should focus on getting others involved and get them in rhythm. Because we already know Kobe can catch fire anytime he wants.
If the interior guys get tripled team then there must be a shooter open whether it is a 3 pointer or inside the arc. Ball movement is key. Just look at the ball movement the Lakers had couple years back.
Remember the triangle offense with Bynum and Gasol? Look at the positioning and passing of Gasol in the following video:
This is what Lakers are lacking right now. Ball movement and utilizing the 2 big men they have on the team.
Steve Nash is a terrific 3 point shooter with a career of 40%+. But looking at his stats page, he only attempted 18 3 pointers this season. The offense Mike Antoni is running for the Laker's isn't working right now. It doesn't even look like there is even offense intact right now.
You do realize that the Lakers didn't shoot particularly well on the 3 pointers against the Magics in the NBA finals. They were shooting low 30% beyond the arc. Yet, they nearly swept the Magics. What really killed the Magics was their second chance point and rebounding ability by Bynum, Gasol, Odom on the inside, which the Laker team is lacking right now.
I have been saying that Laker has been terrible on defense all season. Who cares about Howard's free throw. Look at Shaq. He was one of the shittiest FT shooter but found his way to get touches and dominated his position.
What Kobe needs to do is share the ball and let Nash handle the offense more. Nash should stop passing the ball to Kobe and focus on getting Howard, Gasol, and the rest of the team involved first. How often do we see Dwight or Gasol in this post this year? Rarely.
Look at the Heat. They have 3 superstar. Lebron, Wade, and Bosh. Yet, they all have almost similar touches and average close to each other PPG. Lebron 25PPG, Wade 20PPG, Bosh 18PPG.
Let's look at the Lakers 4 superstars. Kobe=30.5PPG, Gasol=12PPG, Howard=17.5PPG, Nash=10PPG.
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I know this post isn't directed to me, but there's something I'd like to point out.
Howard is not an offensive machine. Being honored the best center in the league is misleading, because he's not perfect on both ends of the court. Unfortunately, he's only average offensively. His post moves says a lot about his offensive game. Therefore, I don't see a reason why we should be using him as our first option. With that said, Pringles did tried to go with that approach and failed miserably. Howard either screws up his post game or misses his free throws.
Gasol, on the other hand, is (was) fantastic on the offensive end. However, he's being forced to play the 4th spot jacking up 3s. Therefore, I don't see a reason in feeding Gasol the ball when it's quite obvious he's not effective at all in the PF position. I know this very well because he's in my fantasy league team and I'm starting to hate him. Instead, he needs to be at the center playing Howard's game.
However, I do agree that having ball movement is key, but that's not the biggest reason why we're underachieving. Ideally, we shouldn't even have Pringles as our coach, but since we can't change that, we'll have to stick with his system. And his system is very different than the triangle offense so there's no point trying to integrate them together; Pringles will not let that happen.
If you've watched all the Laker's games in its entirety, you'd notice that Kobe only goes "Kobe mode" after half time. During the first half he actually tries to get everyone involved. It's only when things aren't work, then he tries the "Kobe mode". Nash is the primary ball handler in the first half usually.
I don't really feel that it's Kobe's fault, but more of Pringles not knowing how to use the talents.