nixluva wrote:This Laker team is not a team that was built as the result of a long term plan and now this is the final product. This is a group of guys thrown together with no really clear vision for the team other than they wanted to get Howard. They've got a lot of structural issues they need to address. They still have a few defensive players, but also a ton of guys that aren't physically capable of moving laterally quick enough to be a good defender on the perimeter. You can't have a roster full of guys with stiff legs and expect great D for 48 minutes. Smaller, quicker teams just buzz around them.

I've been watching Lakers games since before MDA was hired. The issue is much larger than whether MDA is a good coach or not. I do believe they made the right decision to bring in MDA if the idea is to have Nash be the floor leader for this team when it gets healthy. Right now the issues are a lack of team speed on the perimeter and thus they get broken down continually. What do you expect tho when you have Darius Morris and Duhon as your PG's? I mean seriously both of them are barely acceptable on offense but horrendous on D? Basically they're bad. Jamison and Ebanks are stiff legged. Metta W Peace has lost a lot of speed tho he's a bit better this year with some weight loss. Howard and Pau are horrible defending the PnR and teams are killing them on that play. Howard is a great help defender, but a poor man defender.

The Lakers don't have a real 6th man to come off the bench and thus they have to try and fake it when Kobe goes to the bench as there is no other wing player that can come in and be a spark. Basically they MUST have a healthy Nash and Blake to enhance the teams offense, cuz they aren't built to be a dominant defensive team for 48 mins a night. They can dig in and get stops tho, but there will be parts of each game where they have bench players in there and those guys will not be able to defend at a high enough level. The problem is that having Howard can be a blessing and a curse. The Hack-A-Dwight has worked against them in close games. Especially if they can't get stops.

Eventually this Laker team will have to make some changes to make the parts fit better, but getting Blake and then Nash back are essential. This team will become a very potent offensive team and have to live off of that this year unless they can make a deal to bring in players with the kind of perimeter D they need.

Hopefully MDA adjusts this time though. Slow game down with all those big guys and abuse teams inside. Run an efficient offense that ball controls, and beat teams up on the oards and that's a defense in itself because smaller teams can't run out on you. Hope he doesn't think running SSOL with this roster is gonna work just cause he has Nash.

ChuckBuck wrote:

tkf wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

tkf wrote:Interesting interview with kobe.. pretty much tells pau to man up... to adjust.. kobe even goes on to mention how this has been a big adjustment for him, he said he never ran so many screen and rolls in his career.. he said he will adjust, he will stay after practice, work on his ball handling and his screen and rolls.... That is good to hear.. now lets see how this works out.. so far I like his approach, taking a real leadership role.. not whining in the corner playing half arse ball, trying to sabotage the coach, meanwhile sabotaging the team...

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/12/03/kobe-big-boy-pants-for-pau/

“Put your big-boy pants on,” Bryant said. “Just adjust. Just adjust. You can’t whine about it. You can’t complain about it.”
You don’t have to read between any lines to figure out that Kobe is calling Gasol out in the best/worst way (depending on your perspective). Demanding that Gasol man up and take responsibility for his own game and his own transition from Phil Jackson‘s system to Mike Brown‘s system and now, Mike D’Antoni‘s system, is exactly what you’d expect from a team leader.

Not like the poison pill Carmela!

Kobe a born leader of men.

kobe approves of this..

5 time Champion. MVP. Model teammate. Upstanding citizen. Respectful treater of women.

The ultimate feel good player.

Accused of a rape crime and basically ran Shaq out of town....but hey....he didn't force a trade to the LAKERS setting back a team's present and long-term success like selfish-Melo!!!!

oh wait.....

Swishfm3 wrote:http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/8204/whats-the-point-melo-as-the-facilitator

"Whereas it's customary for Melo to first touch the ball 15 to 20 feet out, now he's bringing it up the court and facilitating. He said he's excited about his new role and using the preseason to feel out his new teammates' positioning in halfcourt sets.
"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

Didn't he complain about running the team as a point forward coming out of the lockout season? Isn't this what D'Antoni wanted him to do to open up spacing for Amar'e?

MSG3 wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

MSG3 wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

skeng wrote:

MSG3 wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

MSG3 wrote:The following are 2 statements that I believe to be true:

1) You cannot judge D'Antoni on the Lakers until he has Nash back for a few weeks
2) D'Antoni has not had success in this league without Nash. Nash made him. It's not a coincidence that our record was so much better right after D'Antoni left. To not admit this is foolish.

An alternative way of phrasing that is that he's always had success when he had a competent PG. Two sides to every coin

He had Felton for half the season a couple years ago and Billups the second half. Both halves he was .500. To be considered a good coach, I think you should be able to have a decent record with a team loaded with talent. He's never had a decent record without Nash.

Both Felton and Billups were only here for half a season each. If both got more familiar with it the records might have been different.

Yeah, we're talking about half seasons here? And it's in a year where the team's winning percentage went up by about 200 points.

So you're saying D'Antoni should be judged well on being .500 with a talent laden team? He did a good job because a 20 win team with marginal talent turned into a .500 team with All Star talent? Give me a break. The guy did a bad job here. Why is that so hard to admit?

No, I haven't made any judgement about D'Antoni in LA - not good or bad. I pointed out the contradiction of criticizing MDA for his job in LA while the team is playing better than it did under Brown, but I have not reached any evaluation of MDA as a coach in LA.

I was talking about the Knicks, not LA. I'm reserving jusgement on LA also.

FoeDiddy wrote:

3G4G wrote:

Swishfm3 wrote:http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/8204/whats-the-point-melo-as-the-facilitator

"Whereas it's customary for Melo to first touch the ball 15 to 20 feet out, now he's bringing it up the court and facilitating. He said he's excited about his new role and using the preseason to feel out his new teammates' positioning in halfcourt sets.
"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

Didn't he complain about running the team as a point forward coming out of the lockout season? Isn't this what D'Antoni wanted him to do to open up spacing for Amar'e?

Not sure he ever complained about it. Any documentation?

Also Melo brings up the ball about 20 percent of the time (maybe less) and most of those times it's because the opposing point guard is applying full court pressure on Felton and it would be easier for him to bring it up to set offense. Felton, Kidd and even sometimes JR brings up the ball most of the time.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204879004577111051939396344.html

Go ahead and Peak-A-Boo this article

3G4G wrote:

Swishfm3 wrote:http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/8204/whats-the-point-melo-as-the-facilitator

"Whereas it's customary for Melo to first touch the ball 15 to 20 feet out, now he's bringing it up the court and facilitating. He said he's excited about his new role and using the preseason to feel out his new teammates' positioning in halfcourt sets.
"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

Didn't he complain about running the team as a point forward coming out of the lockout season? Isn't this what D'Antoni wanted him to do to open up spacing for Amar'e?

Rookie wrote:Dwight says he will leave the Lakers if he doesn't think they can win a ring. Didn't take long for the wheels to fall off the bus in L.A.

"So I want to do it the best that I can and I’m going to take everything in I can to get what I can out of the NBA. Which, for me, is winning a championship," Howard said. "So if I have to play on another team or do whatever I have to do to get one, that’s my goal. This is my passion, so I’ll continue to fight."

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/12/3/3721530/dwight-howard-lakers-championship-magic

Not the right time to say something like this.

blkexec wrote:

FoeDiddy wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:Why anyone would support a bad coach who admitted coming to NY was a mistake and did it just for the money grab is beyond me.

Danfoni is an offensive coordinator.....not a coach. Danfoni system is decent, but more suitable at the college or high school level.

This is the post of the year concerning Danphoney.

Swishfm3 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

tkf wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

tkf wrote:Interesting interview with kobe.. pretty much tells pau to man up... to adjust.. kobe even goes on to mention how this has been a big adjustment for him, he said he never ran so many screen and rolls in his career.. he said he will adjust, he will stay after practice, work on his ball handling and his screen and rolls.... That is good to hear.. now lets see how this works out.. so far I like his approach, taking a real leadership role.. not whining in the corner playing half arse ball, trying to sabotage the coach, meanwhile sabotaging the team...

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/12/03/kobe-big-boy-pants-for-pau/

“Put your big-boy pants on,” Bryant said. “Just adjust. Just adjust. You can’t whine about it. You can’t complain about it.”
You don’t have to read between any lines to figure out that Kobe is calling Gasol out in the best/worst way (depending on your perspective). Demanding that Gasol man up and take responsibility for his own game and his own transition from Phil Jackson‘s system to Mike Brown‘s system and now, Mike D’Antoni‘s system, is exactly what you’d expect from a team leader.

Not like the poison pill Carmela!

Kobe a born leader of men.

kobe approves of this..

5 time Champion. MVP. Model teammate. Upstanding citizen. Respectful treater of women.

The ultimate feel good player.

Accused of a rape crime and basically ran Shaq out of town....but hey....he didn't force a trade to the LAKERS setting back a team's present and long-term success like selfish-Melo!!!!

oh wait.....

bingo..... you got it... wish we had him instead of the donkey we have now...

tkf wrote:

3G4G wrote:

Swishfm3 wrote:http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/8204/whats-the-point-melo-as-the-facilitator

"Whereas it's customary for Melo to first touch the ball 15 to 20 feet out, now he's bringing it up the court and facilitating. He said he's excited about his new role and using the preseason to feel out his new teammates' positioning in halfcourt sets.
"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

Didn't he complain about running the team as a point forward coming out of the lockout season? Isn't this what D'Antoni wanted him to do to open up spacing for Amar'e?

exactly, i posted the article where he said he was uncomfortable with it.....dude is funny man..

Now.... Maidservants want to give him credit for running it Woody Hockey Assist style

newyorknewyork wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:Right. As much as I hate Dantoni's coaching philosophy I think you have to wait to see what the team looks like with Nash and once Pau is traded for complimentary pieces before callig this a failure what 5 games in?

So its okay for Kobe, Howard, Gasol, to have to wait for Nash. But its Melo's fault for not being successful in the same system with Tony Douglas as his PG.

Didn't Dwight Howard lead a team to the finals practically by himself? Now he has to depend on Nash?

in the lakers case nash was brought here as part of a grand plan with specific players in mind.

knicks were not afforded that luxury with the carmelo trade.

this is another case of apples and oranges.

of course the lakers NEED nash.

and so the question remains: did the knicks truly need carmelo?