Just watching the Lakers since MDA has taken over and opened up the offense and it's immediately clear how Kobe has taken to this like a fish in water. Kobe unlike Melo is buying in 100% and he looks good with the ball and without the ball. Don't know exactly how things will end up, but the Lakers look WORLDS better on offense picking up the pace and spreading the floor. Even without Nash and Blake the Lakers are much better in this style of BB. They won't be a top defensive team, but they're gonna score a lot of points on teams and draw a ton of fouls.
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.
It has begun.
They're beating up on bad teams even Dantoni's Knicks teams did that before it all fell apart.
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.
Mray20 wrote:They're beating up on bad teams even Dantoni's Knicks teams did that before it all fell apart.
Clearly the same Lakers were LOSING to bad teams before, so it's not for nothing that they are playing more up to their potential. Besides it's not about the competition as much as the change in approach that i'm pointing out. I was noting how well Kobe has taken to the role of a facilitator and scorer in this offense. It's not very complicated. Just pure BB in a more free flowing style that allows the talented players on the team to excel and simplifies things for the less talented players on the team. They don't have to do as much thinking!!! Less talented players just stay out of the way and be ready to pass or shoot. Meanwhile the more talented players can use their skills and they have more space to get off as well.
The point is that with the talent the Lakers have, if they learn how to master this style, they'll be extremely difficult to stop. It wasn't a very good defensive team anyway so this actually enhances their main strength, which is offensive talent. They'll have their moments on D, but they're not built to defend at the highest levels for 48 minutes. They should be able to get stops when they really focus, but with slow perimeter guys like Nash, Blake and Duhon, they're gonna have some holes. Basically this team is playing more like the Olympic team. They pushed the ball more and got into the offense much faster. No need to really call a lot of plays, just get into a flow, call a PnR, look for the openings.
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.
We don't talk other teams and coaches here
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.
There are some match ups I can't wait to see. Of course Lakers/Knicks is one. Lakers verses the other top teams in the league will be interesting. The Lakers will have some problems against good shooting teams from what I can see. Spurs in particular could be a bad match up. It all depends on how the Lakers will be able to change their approach on D on the perimeter. The Knicks I think would match up well against the Lakers since we have the perimeter defenders to go with our bigs inside. I think the Knicks Perimeter, PnR defense is better than a lot of other teams. The Grizz seem like they'd also be a good match up with the Lakers. They have the size and defense to battle with the Lakers. The question will be how much of a difference Nash and Blake will make. Those 2 PG's make them even tougher to deal with. Then when we get STAT and Shump back ... MAN this is gonna be good.
As per Kobe being a more natural fit than Melo, here is the truth, from my point of view. The MOST natural fit is Nash, right ? Nash is a PG, with a certain set of PnR skills. Not all PG's, even, have such unreal PnR skills. Kobe is a SG, very skilled. Again, we are taking backcourt. Dribbling, passing, PnR ball handling etc. What I am getting at, is that the PnR ball handler's natural fit goes way down when you move from backcourt to the frontcourt, where Melo plays. He is a 3 or a 4, actually. So by default, Kobe is more natural because of his position alone, plus the PnR skills. Why wasn't Melo used more in PnR plays to see how he would do as either the Passer or the Roller. Melo would be a deadly finisher of PnR plays, hypothetically speaking.
Kobe just wanna shoot
Melo fit in MDA's system did you see the Olympics
The problem was no playmaker and STAT and Chandler clogging the lane
If you get the ball as often as Melo does you don't have to be as adept as Kobe in order to be effective at setting up teammates. Big men can pass too. PnR isn't about how amazing you are with your handle, just ask Duhon about that. It's about timing and spacing. It's about execution and reading and reacting to what the defense does. It's about knowing where your teammates are and if you have any kind of passing ability at all, you should be able to make a simple pass to an open teammate. Melo can make a simple pass. He could've been more successful in passing out of the post if he chose to focus on doing it. It takes time to get the hang of it. Just ask Felton how he did at 1st.
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.
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?
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.
The current Laker team has substantially better personnel than the Knicks did last season. This thread is silly.
MDA is rubbing off on the Lakers already.....they gave up 109 points to the Rockets.
We won't know until he actually starts coaching them and I have questions about Kobe's ability to play off the ball which, he will need to do for Nash to fully utilized.
MDA didn't do shyt...it's been one game dude.
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?
1st of all MDA wasn't on the bench. He's been running practice with his brother there to handle things. Kobe himself said that it would be easy to change course because the team had never really learned Brown's offense anyway. Did you watch the game? Have you been paying any attention to the Lakers and their practices? Did you think about the fact that Duhon, Kobe and D12 have played in MDA's system before and are familiar with it. MDA's basic stuff is pretty easy to implement as opposed to more complicated systems like the Triangle or Princeton offense. If you watched their games since MDA has been there to take over practice you'd know how much different the team played in the last game. The announcers themselves were noting the changes.
PLEASE don't talk ish you don't know anything about. I could point out to you clearly where the team has changed from how they were playing before. They're pushing the ball more and getting into the plays much faster and with a clear idea of how they're attacking. The spacing was clearly MDA spacing and you could see the typical results of MDA plays. After all these years you all should know that if there's one thing I can recognize, it's MDA's offense. Even just the basics of it are clear as day!!!
The offense continues to flow seamlessly under Mike D’Antoni’s fast-paced system and two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol appears to be benefiting with a green light to score every time he touches the basketball.
damn! this was moved?
I wanted to see this thread everyday!
ChuckBuck wrote:MDA didn't do shyt...it's been one game dude.
Clearly you don't know ISH or else you wouldn't be talking such nonsense. MDA has coached some of these guys before plus his system is much easier to get the hang of than the Triangle or Princeton offense. Especially if your Star player already knows how to run it and is fully bought in.
