2012 Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[Kevin Greene]

By the way, Dwight's shoulder injury tonight was the biggest bunch of BS. That is a guy trying to get the fug out of there. 10-1 he is faking.

I hesitated to say anything but since you went there I do think Howard is a mental case at this point.

All the back and forth crap in Orlando last season and now this year.

And I thought Metta was a looney..........

[ZB1224]

Just sad... Kobe is the only one that has pulled his weight all season. I feel bad for Kobe that he has to play with this joke of a team.

[ZB1224]

I can't figure this fugging team out. I am not a big Kobe fan, but I am a casual fan of the Lakers and these guys plain suck. I thought they may struggle a little early as the all got acquainted with on another. But I don't think I have ever seen a team put together 2 MVPs, probably the best center in basketball, the most skilled post player in the NBA, and MWP who is an all-star. And just flat suck.

Struggle yes. Being around 4th or 5th in the Western Conference is where I saw this team at worst by this point. But they aren't struggling, they are terrible.

If they don't start winning and winning soon, they shouldn't just trade one guy, they need to become wholesale sellers. Sh!t maybe even trade Kobe at this point.

They have mortgaged their future on this team and traded away several of their draft picks over the next few years to put this team together. If they hang on too long they will become irrelevant for several seasons in the post Kobe life, much like they did in the years following Magic's retirement.

The scary thing is, outside of Kobe, Dwight Howard may be the only real valuable tradeable asset the Lakers have.

What a fugging mess.

I agree with almost everything you said. I can't figure out the Lakers either. They just fugging suck and they shouldn't.

However, you did say that they have 2 MVP's, the best C in basketball, the most skilled post player, and called MWP an all-star (kinda surprised that you didn't mention 2 DPOY). The thing is, Nash is way past his prime. He is terrible on defense, is slow as fug and just can't figure out how to get our bigs involved (I am sure that antoni is partly to blame). Dwight hasn't been healthy this entire season, and even if he were... I am not sure that he'd be a huge impact player tbh. He thinks that he is Shaq and demands the ball, but the fact of the matter is that he's one of the worst post players in the NBA (no, really -- go to synergy sports and check his points per possession -- hint: it's among the worst in the entire NBA). Dwight doesn't play D when he isn't engaged in offense... not the guy that I thought that we were getting. Lastly MWP is far from an all-star. He's a top 20 SF probably, but he's god the speed of a PF and struggles to stay in front of these quicker 3's these days... he's also extremely inconsistent on offense and is a bit of a ball stopper (Kobe can be as well, but at least he can get you 30 points on very good efficiency).

tl;dr: Lakers suck and I'm mad.

[ZB1224]

I hesitated to say anything but since you went there I do think Howard is a mental case at this point.

All the back and forth crap in Orlando last season and now this year.

And I thought Metta was a looney..........

Wonder what the chances of trading Dwight to Philly for 'Drew are? lol

I miss 'Drew :(

[ZB1224]

I hesitated to say anything but since you went there I do think Howard is a mental case at this point.

All the back and forth crap in Orlando last season and now this year.

And I thought Metta was a looney..........

Wonder what the chances of trading Dwight to Philly for 'Drew are? lol

I miss 'Drew :(

[C47]

Just sad... Kobe is the only one that has pulled his weight all season. I feel bad for Kobe that he has to play with this joke of a team.

Yep, outside of Kobe, the only one who has any reason to be pissed is Earl Clark....

[ZB1224]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/225762/Source_Dwights_One_Concern_About_Re_Signing_Is_DAntoni

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/225761/Source_Jim_Buss_Was_Concerned_About_Jackson_Making_Nash_Expendable

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/225763/Gasol_Privately_Expects_Lakers_To_Trade_Him_Before_Deadline

[thatlookseasy]

Lakers should trade Dwight to Dallas for Dirk + a backup

Moves Gasol to the low post, provides much better court spacing. Just commit to the 2 year title window and forget about trying to rebuild around Dwight later.

I still really like this trade. All the old guys arent a great fit for Dantoni, but lets be honest thats not going to happen with this lakers team.

I'm pretty sure Nash- Kobe- Dirk- Gasol finds a way to make the playoffs, and if not at least it would be more entertaining. Plus there are enough vets that they can just tell Dantoni to go fug himself if he keeps trying to run his system

[h0llywood]

I think a good trade scenario would be:

Los Angeles Lakers Acquire

PF Zach Randolph

SG Tony Allen

Memphis Grizzlies Acquire

PF Pau Gasol

Lakers get a quality big man in Zach Randolph and a serviceable Shooting Guard to spell Kobe

Memphis gets their franchise scoring leader and pair the big man with his brother.

Salaries match.

[thatlookseasy]

I think a good trade scenario would be:

Los Angeles Lakers Acquire

PF Zach Randolph

SG Tony Allen

Memphis Grizzlies Acquire

PF Pau Gasol

Lakers get a quality big man in Zach Randolph and a serviceable Shooting Guard to spell Kobe

Memphis gets their franchise scoring leader and pair the big man with his brother.

Salaries match.

Memphis just traded away all their SG depth, they arent going to trade Allen.

[teeray]

Tonight was Kobe's best game of the year by far. The balance on offense was beautiful.

6 guys getting 8 or more shots. 4 with 10 or more.

Great balance. Great game by Kobe.

Now they have to build off this. It is easy for Kobe to play that way when they are up by double digits most of the game. But he has to relinquish some of the scoring burden and he did that tonight and the Lakers were a better team because of it.

[ZB1224]

Tonight was Kobe's best game of the year by far. The balance on offense was beautiful.

6 guys getting 8 or more shots. 4 with 10 or more.

Great balance. Great game by Kobe.

Now they have to build off this. It is easy for Kobe to play that way when they are up by double digits most of the game. But he has to relinquish some of the scoring burden and he did that tonight and the Lakers were a better team because of it.

I don't think that Kobe necessarily wants to shoot the ball 25+ times. He has many games where he starts out sharing the ball, but most of the time the team is bricking everything so he starts trying to do all of the scoring himself. The team has to be more consistent and Kobe has to trust his teammates all game no matter what. Hopefully they do just that and the Lakers will be on their way. 2 biggest keys tonight were Kobe setting the tone on offense and Dwight setting the tone on defense and energy.

Also, for the people who watched the game... did you guys notice Nash playing a ton of off ball? It seems like Kobe was doing 75% of the primary ball handling, and I'm thinking that it's a good thing. Nash is a great passer, but he's slower, and not very quick these days so it's hard for him to create the same looks as he did in the past. I hope that we see much of the same in future games.

[C47]

I think the biggest thing is Nash needs to shoot more when he's open. No more passing up wide open threes just to placate Dwight and Pau....

[ZB1224]

Lakers back?

Kobe the best PG in the NBA now?

Stay tuned :)