The ball is moving so much better and with the heavy use of picks and keeping the paint open teams will have a tough time stopping the Lakers from getting the ball to Pau and D12 on their way to the basket. The Lakers perimeter D still isn't very good, but they have Pau, D12 and Hill erasing mistakes and rebounding. It looks pretty good.

The offense is helping the less talented players to get off. Darius Morris and Duhon look better and there's more shots for Meeks and Jamison. It's just a very good fit for their roster, despite what some media guys thought wasn't a good fit. It's gonna be very interesting to see them play against the Grizz, Thunder, Spurs and Knicks. I think they're gonna have too much size for the Heat.
I know the Heat are special, but they will have some problems dealing with the Lakers size IMO. Especially if the Lakers are gonna spread the floor and have Pau and D12 make quick cuts toward the basket.

ramtour420 wrote:Nix, I have a lot of respect for you, man. However, you can't say that without Nash it would even resemble anything that you are watching them do now. Come on man. Everything else you said is pretty much spot on.

Well if you watch them play then you'd know that Kobe and Pau in a PnR with space and D12 lurking was working for them. Duhon already knows the offense and had no problem running plays. Even Darius Morris was more comfortable. It's obviously even better with Nash!!! The point is that when Nash is sitting they will have no problems executing, cuz Kobe all by himself is a very capable playmaker in a PnR offense. Kobe is much more capable and willing to be a playmaker than Melo was. Kobe is used to having the ball and since he's pretty good with his handle and can make the pass in a PnR or just take it himself it will work.

It will be interesting to see how the better teams handle defending it, but when you put extremely talented players in this offense you can expect some good results. All I can tell is that the ball was moving very well and sooner or later someone is gonna be open on the Lakers. They have some dominant finishers.

nixluva wrote:

ramtour420 wrote:Nix, I have a lot of respect for you, man. However, you can't say that without Nash it would even resemble anything that you are watching them do now. Come on man. Everything else you said is pretty much spot on.

Well if you watch them play then you'd know that Kobe and Pau in a PnR with space and D12 lurking was working for them. Duhon already knows the offense and had no problem running plays. Even Darius Morris was more comfortable. It's obviously even better with Nash!!! The point is that when Nash is sitting they will have no problems executing, cuz Kobe all by himself is a very capable playmaker in a PnR offense. Kobe is much more capable and willing to be a playmaker than Melo was. Kobe is used to having the ball and since he's pretty good with his handle and can make the pass in a PnR or just take it himself it will work.

It will be interesting to see how the better teams handle defending it, but when you put extremely talented players in this offense you can expect some good results. All I can tell is that the ball was moving very well and sooner or later someone is gonna be open on the Lakers. They have some dominant finishers.

You are right, I didn't watch them play. But I will ! When we play them. MDA on the Lakers makes sence, Nash and the crew. With that type of talent he can do major damage. Every year. Good for him, Lakers are a championship franchise and he totally can win the chip with them and finally put all discussions to rest. Until then, it is just a pretty offense to watch.

The thing is that Kobe had 22 pts, 11 rebs and 11 asts. No Nash or Blake. Duhon and Morris played the point, but when Kobe got the ball he still was able to make plays for his teammates when the defense focused on him. It's mostly about an attitude of wanting to buy into the openings the offense creates. Thankfully Melo has grown and learned from his experience last year and over the summer with the Olympic team. He's not resisting anymore and that has opened him up to moving the ball more this year. He's not always the passer that leads to the shot, but he definitely has gotten more Hockey assists this year and is a more willing passer. Things he could've done last year too if he had made up his mind to do it. Melo being more willing to buy in to the passing game is one of the reasons this team is doing better this year. He doesn't have to be as good as Kobe for him to be an effective passer.

CrushAlot wrote:For 24 games last year you talked about how Woodson was using dantoni's offensive principles because he couldn't change everything so quickly. 1 game on the bench and dantoni is able to do that in la?

Man what a great point LOL.

I wanted to see this thread everyday!