OT Lakers 17-24

[Scoe]

Will they make the playoffs? I think so but I don't know they look pretty awful. How can you be 26th in team defense when you have Dwight and Artest, well its not suprising if Dantoni is your coach.

Kobe isnt beyond criticism either he has hit a wall. Would this be the biggest failure in all of sports if the Lakers missed the playoffs? Its not like this team has a future either with no 1st round picks and will be over the luxury tax. I dont think Phil Jackson would have solved all their issues but hiring Dantoni over him was mind boggling. What the hell is Pau Gasol doing shooting 3's lol.

 

[CTBasketball]

They need some Huskies on the team.

 

[Deepster]

1) Kobe is avging 29.2 behind only Durant's 29.5 per game.
2) Asking a guy like Kobe, with the mileage he has, to cover the other team's best offensive player is insane.

Not sure Kobe has hit a wall.

Looks to me like Howard and Gasol have not been great team players and Nash is old in a conference with lots of good backcourt talent. I don't fault Kobe for much in this whole mess.

 

[Scoe]

1) Kobe is avging 29.2 behind only Durant's 29.5 per game.
2) Asking a guy like Kobe, with the mileage he has, to cover the other team's best offensive player is insane.

Not sure Kobe has hit a wall.

Looks to me like Howard and Gasol have not been great team players and Nash is old in a conference with lots of good backcourt talent. I don't fault Kobe for much in this whole mess.

Right now he has hit a wall because he has to do too much. He is still an amazing player but is being asked to do too much. I dont fault Kobe for much but no one guy is above criticism. That team has got some serious issues. Howard and Gasol together are a mess, but a good coach would find a way to work that out. The Lakers are the 3rd best team in their own state right now.

 

[Scoe]

They need some Huskies on the team.

There is a possibility of that Gasol could be traded back to Memphis possibly for Rudy.

 

[superjohn]

The Lakers stink, they are all to blame saying Kobe should be free of blame is ridiculous, the guy can still score but he's a horrible team player. They have completely mismanaged Gasol all year long and Nash looks very old. It's amazing that Mike Brown was fired after only 5 games, how long does D'Antoni get?

 

[WhereistheDove?]

There's a lot of miscommunication on defense and in the pick-and-roll game for them. With time together, I think that gets better, just don't know if it will get them good enough that they can climb out of this hole. The amount of easy baskets they give up is just embarrassing.

 

[Huskies4ever]

The Lakers stink, they are all to blame saying Kobe should be free of blame is ridiculous, the guy can still score but he's a horrible team player. They have completely mismanaged Gasol all year long and Nash looks very old. It's
amazing that Mike Brown was fired after only 5 games, how long does D'Antoni get?

Kobe, Nash, and Gasol are among the best team players they have. Why no mention of the true cancer, Dwight Howard?

 

[Brochacho]

There is a possibility of that Gasol could be traded back to Memphis possibly for Rudy.

I don't think so. The anus pounding the Grizzlies just took from the Cavs seems to suggest that they will keep their starting 5 together. But at the same time they could have done it to say, "we don't need to trade him in order to get under the tax, so give us a legit offer this time".

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Howard does not seem to be built to play with a guy like Kobe, who is an out and out psychopath when it comes to competing. Dwight is just trying to have a good time.

 

[Deepster]

The Lakers stink, they are all to blame saying Kobe should be free of blame is ridiculous, the guy can still score but he's a horrible team player.

How is Kobe any less of a team player than he was when they won all those titles? It seemed to work fine when they didn't have Dwight Howard whining like a big baby in their locker room.

 

[aceboon]

Well Kobe is a pretty terrible team defender these days. The whole Kobe is guarding the best perimeter player thing is overblown, he freelances and roves alot on D, sometimes it seems like he's a free safety. Dwight has got in his face or voiced his frustration quite a few times with him on the court about his lack of rotations and being out of position on team D. Even Earl Clark said after the Raptors game that guys need to start guarding, he didin't say Kobe directly but Nash and Kobe are the two worst perimeter defenders on the team.

 

[superjohn]

Kobe's defense has been horrible all year, Kobe has never been a good leader in my opinion. He is a brilliant scorer but he has never really made his teammates better, 3 of those championships came when he was Shaq's sidekick. I'll never forget the times Kobe has flat out quit on his team like that Phoenix series years ago, great teammates don't pull that. Just because I didn't mention Howard doesn't mean I like him, he is an immature almost cancerous type of player at this point. This team reminds me of the year they went out and got Karl Malone and Gary Payton and everyone was saying they would win the title, this team is much more of a disaster though.

 

[champs99and04]

I really don't see how you can blame this on Dwight Howard. Say what you want about the way he handled his buisness this summer (which was poor to say the least), but the facts are, he's the only guy among the star players who has any interest in playing defense. The Lakers are still pretty efficient offensively - anybody blaming the offensive system for their woes is pin-pointing the wrong problem. They just can't guard anybody, it's that simple. Steve Nash is an embarassment to watch defensively, Kobe has lost a couple steps, and the team defense as a whole is cluttered with mis-communication and a lack of attention to detail.

 

[huskyharry]

Halfway through the season at 17-24.
Historically over the last few years, teams have needed to be between 43-39 and 46-36 to make the 8th seed in the Western Conference. This means a second half record of between 29-12 (very tall order) and 26-15 (still a huge improvement over current record)...so, a very tough road for the Lakers to make the playoffs this year.
As stated above...they need a UConn player in order for me to care!

 

[Scoe]

Kobe's defense has been horrible all year, Kobe has never been a good leader in my opinion. He is a brilliant scorer but he has never really made his teammates better, 3 of those championships came when he was Shaq's sidekick. I'll never forget the times Kobe has flat out quit on his team like that Phoenix series years ago, great teammates don't pull that. Just because I didn't mention Howard doesn't mean I like him, he is an immature almost cancerous type of player at this point. This team reminds me of the year they went out and got Karl Malone and Gary Payton and everyone was saying they would win the title, this team is much more of a disaster though.

Kind of that 04 Lakers team got to the finals at least, having the Zen Master helps manage all those egos. Shaq and Kobe had their feud going on, and Gary Payton didnt know how to run the triangle offense, Fisher got more playing time to close out a game. I thought the Lakers were the 5th best team at most in the West going into this season behind OKC, LAC, SA, and Memphis. It would probably be the biggest failure in sports if this team missed the playoffs. I believe Nash is a team guy who has his limitations on defense, Kobe will try to play hero mode, and Dwight is a drama queen. It is kind of entertaining to watch honestly, who would have thought the Lakers would be the 3rd best team in their own state. Golden State has looked impressive btw.

 

[Adios]

The Lakers stink, they are all to blame saying Kobe should be free of blame is ridiculous, the guy can still score but he's a horrible team player. They have completely mismanaged Gasol all year long and Nash looks very old. It's amazing that Mike Brown was fired after only 5 games, how long does D'Antoni get?

The Lakers have to pay Mike Brown $10 million that was guaranteed. Now they have $12 million guaranteed to D'Antoni.

Howard going to be traded to the Nets?

 

[UConn990411]

Kobe, Nash, and Gasol are among the best team players they have. Why no mention of the true cancer, Dwight Howard?

I think the fact that you named Kobe as one of their better team players is part of the problem.

He's 112-261 in January, including 25-79 in his last three games.

 

[Huskies4ever]

True. He's a star and always wants to be the guy. He's an arrogant . But he's a winner. Can't quite say the same for Dwight Howard. He's just a headcase.