Lakers Thread

[casmith07]

Originally Posted by jterrell

the lakers are a talented but shallow team.
they won't be as good as people suggested but they'll make the playoffs then have a chance once there.

nash is a terrible, terrible fit for that walk it up offense.

nash has never been good except in run and gun situations.

dwight howard has to learn to make some free throws and be content starring on that defense.

the main issue is kobe, nash, blake are all now terrible defenders.
howard is a stud and gasol is manageable.
artest is solid when he isnt fouling like a yak.

the main issue in la is keeping dwight happy so that he signs that long-term deal. if he doesnt get the ball or sees the future as sour he is a loose cannon that could do any number of goofy things.

signing nash for 3 years and big money was stupid.

[View Full Quote]the laker fans should be very worried. and i was suggesting these offensive fit issues and defensive liabilities before these 2 games btw.

[MC KAos]

this year could be a disaster for the lakers if all these injuries are a sign of things to come for their geezers

[Kangaroo]

I expected some up and downs with the Lakers this season but 0-3 to start the season is terrible.

Nash has always been a liability on defense one of the things the Spurs exploited against Phoenix all those years ago.

[RoyTheHammer]

Originally Posted by Boys122

Just like Kobe said, it'll take some time to get the offense going. Shut up and be patient.

Im sure they will get the offense going.. but no matter what the starting 5 do, they're still going to be looking down that long line of nobodies everytime they have to sub in. If a starter or two misses significant time.. good luck.

[RS12]

Old legs, brutal bench, in over his head coach. other than that they are great.

[Kangaroo]

Originally Posted by RS12

Old legs, brutal bench, in over his head coach. other than that they are great.

Here is my question if they continue to struggle close to the trade deadline do the Lakers try to trade Gasol to get some bench depth.

The other option is to move one of the starters to a bench role so they have someone that can come off the bench for a spark.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[MC KAos]

so, nash has a fractured fibula....

[MC KAos]

before anyone asks

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/85...actured-fibula

[Kangaroo]

Originally Posted by MC KAos

before anyone asks

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/85...actured-fibula

“a small non-displaced fracture in the head of his fibula.”

That hurts but it is not a serious break so they dodge a bullet with that one.

They also say a minimum of a week before he can play again.

http://www.sportsgrid.com/nba/steve-...jury-fracture/

[casmith07]

Their problem isn't Nash being hurt though.

Kobe's 70% maybe. Dwight's maybe 70%. Also, their bench isn't brutal, but it's certainly not used to playing together yet.

Clearly they look to be a team with a lot of talent that's in a transition phase. Once they get healthy, and get it going, they're going to be extremely difficult to beat because not only do they have the Post-Swing-Point trio locked in, they add another strong post presence in Dwight Howard.

However, he's got to pull down more than 8 boards in a game against questionable post talent (Clippers) in order to be effective.

[MC KAos]

Originally Posted by casmith07

Their problem isn't Nash being hurt though.

Kobe's 70% maybe. Dwight's maybe 70%. Also, their bench isn't brutal, but it's certainly not used to playing together yet.

Clearly they look to be a team with a lot of talent that's in a transition phase. Once they get healthy, and get it going, they're going to be extremely difficult to beat because not only do they have the Post-Swing-Point trio locked in, they add another strong post presence in Dwight Howard.

However, he's got to pull down more than 8 boards in a game against questionable post talent (Clippers) in order to be effective.

problem is, they dont have the depth to rest their guys to get healthy and win games, its a catch 22

[jterrell]

Originally Posted by casmith07

Their problem isn't Nash being hurt though.

Kobe's 70% maybe. Dwight's maybe 70%. Also, their bench isn't brutal, but it's certainly not used to playing together yet.

Clearly they look to be a team with a lot of talent that's in a transition phase. Once they get healthy, and get it going, they're going to be extremely difficult to beat because not only do they have the Post-Swing-Point trio locked in, they add another strong post presence in Dwight Howard.

However, he's got to pull down more than 8 boards in a game against questionable post talent (Clippers) in order to be effective.

this is spoken like a laker fan with zero perspective.

the team has the wrong offense in place, zero chemistry, a number of aging guys with nagging injuries, and zero depth of consequence.

you dont win by collecting names in the nba. even when the celts and heat built star-studded groups they relied on a younger star than the lakers have and didn't win a title the first year. they needed key contributors that werent all-stars to make those teams go.

feel free to keep up the high hopes and suffer through a miserable season though.

i am merely trying to tell you as someone who coaches and watches tons of basketball the realistic issues they will face. the biggest is defensive issues guarding anyone under 6'6". they will get torched by quality guards all year long. the lakers lack of speed and quickness is readily apparent every game. ((this is also why barea and deshawn stevenson played so much for the mavs in their playoff run--you need some speed and quickness))

i love steve nash. he has been tremendous to watch and he is a guy who has maxed out his abilities and performance. but anyone thinking 38 year old steve nash is an elite point guard is not watching basketball nightly and instead playing nba2k10 or some nonsense. the suns fell apart largely as he aged. his dip isn't brand new. the price he was paid is insane.

[joseephuss]

The Lakers will get things figured out and will play some good basketball. The problem is that the more games you lose now, they more you have to make up later. Lose too many and you end up not having home court advantage during the critical portion of the playoffs. Home court matters.

[MC KAos]

Originally Posted by joseephuss

The Lakers will get things figured out and will play some good basketball. The problem is that the more games you lose now, they more you have to make up later. Lose too many and you end up not having home court advantage during the critical portion of the playoffs. Home court matters.

home court doesnt matter to veteran teams, but health does. the lakers have 2 really old guys that will be dealing with injuries all year and a guy coming off major back surgery. Health is the most likely thing to derail this lakers team and id bet on it happening.

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Lakers finally got their first win of the season.

Even though it's clearly still a work in progress it was good to see them put up a good performance albeit against a subpar team in Detroit.

The Lakers next two games are at Utah and at Golden State so they should get back to 500 by the end of the week.