2012 Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[King Taharqa]

6 straight losses for the Lake Show. Thats how many games Mike Brown was given at the beginning of the season before he was scapegoated and fired. Is he still the problem? Is it time to fire D'Antoni? Brown was NEVER the problem. But at least he's laughing all the way to the bank cashing those Buss family checks for free!!!

[Kevin Greene]

This is a good lesson for the younger Buss to learn.

Let Kupchak run the BBall side.

Meanwhile, keep signing those checks. I cant imagine Antonni will be retained next year so he may be writing checks to 3 HCs at once!

[King Taharqa]

This is a good lesson for the younger Buss to learn.

Let Kupchak run the BBall side.

Meanwhile, keep signing those checks. I cant imagine Antonni will be retained next year so he may be writing checks to 3 HCs at once!

Don't they owe Brown another year of salary? I know the Buss' are paid, but damn can they eat D'Antoni's salary too? He's got like 3 years left on his deal. Thats alot of bread to be paying coaches who dont work for you and go out and pay somebody else.

[Kevin Greene]

Don't they owe Brown another year of salary? I know the Buss' are paid, but damn can they eat D'Antoni's salary too? He's got like 3 years left on his deal. Thats alot of bread to be paying coaches who dont work for you and go out and pay somebody else.

I guess it depends if they want to win, clearly Antonni does not fit the style of this roster.

Of course the roster will probably be much different next year, no way Howard re-signs for this, so the Lakers will have his salary space to spend.

Then it would not surprise me if Kobe demands a trade. The more the losses mount up, the uglier this is going to get.

The fans late in games are already booing Buss when he is shown and chanting "We want Phil". lol

Dr. Jerry Buss may have to do a JR and bitch slap his son out of his ownership position.

[CarolinaPride5]

Don't they owe Brown another year of salary? I know the Buss' are paid, but damn can they eat D'Antoni's salary too? He's got like 3 years left on his deal. Thats alot of bread to be paying coaches who dont work for you and go out and pay somebody else.

Yeah. We owe Brown 11 Million, D'Antoni 12 Million.

23 million between to two, + another coach. Ha! Good going Jim Buss you dumbass.

[PanthersClinic]

The Lakers are a huge embarrassment. All the players, coaches and management involved should be ashamed.

[Kevin Greene]

The Lakers are a huge embarrassment. All the players, coaches and management involved should be ashamed.

I would agree.

[ZB1224]

Lakers looked good tonight with a lineup of Nash, Kobe, MWP, Clark, Howard. We just look so much better without Clark and it looks like Howard is starting to get healthier... that or the rest really just helped him. I LOVED the way that the Lakers shared the ball today. Granted this blowout was against the Cavs, but a win is a win and blowing out any NBA team is no easy feat.

[ZB1224]

Also I like how in the last couple of games it has been Kobe guarding Westbrook and Irving. He's done a very good job of them too. His on ball defense is still exceptional.

[thatlookseasy]

Also I like how in the last couple of games it has been Kobe guarding Westbrook and Irving. He's done a very good job of them too. His on ball defense is still exceptional.

What do you think about the Lakers giving Bryant more responsibility on D?

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8844744/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-take-more-important-defensive-role-mike-dantoni-says

I mean I realize they need to do something, but is the goal here to wear out Kobe by March? He's clearly the best defender they have against good ball handlers, but the last time the Lakers won a champ Kobe was playing 34 minutes/ game in a slower offense. This is a move you make in the playoffs, not before the all star break

[ZB1224]

What do you think about the Lakers giving Bryant more responsibility on D?

http://espn.go.com/l...ke-dantoni-says

I mean I realize they need to do something, but is the goal here to wear out Kobe by March? He's clearly the best defender they have against good ball handlers, but the last time the Lakers won a champ Kobe was playing 34 minutes/ game in a slower offense. This is a move you make in the playoffs, not before the all star break

Well I think that it is a bit bitter sweet. Kobe is still a top on ball defender. He can lock people down, or at the very least hold his matchup under their season average. The problem with Kobe's defense is that he tends to play safety when playing off ball. Kobe absolutely loves challenges, and for some reason when he's guarding off ball against players like Danny Green he tends to forget about them. I think that everyone realizes that fact so Mike D'Antoni has decided to give him the assignment of guarding the best perimeter player.

Now this is where it gets a bit bitter. Kobe is already playing 39 minutes per game and had a stretch where he hit 40+ way more often than not. There is no way that Kobe will be able to score 30 ppg and play lockdown D on his opposing matchup. D'Antoni will have to limit his minutes a bit more (which is hard to do since Meeks has been awful). I'd be pretty comfortable with Kobe at 35 mpg and a decreased role on offense. Obviously Kobe needs to be our main option on offense as he's one of the greatest ever on that side of the court (and having his most efficient season), but we need to be spreading the ball around anyhow. It seems like Dwight is kind of like Shaq in that he isn't very active on D if he isn't getting touches on offense (true to the saying, "If you feed the big dog, he will guard the yard. If you don’t feed him, he’s just going to walk around and get bored...").

So with saying all of that... I think that it's a good idea, but the Lakers still need to bring in another defensive guard to take some pressure off of Kobe on defense so that Kobe isn't worn out by the playoffs. No one else has the responsibility of being the main offensive option AND guarding the best player on defense throughout the regular season... and there is a reason for that.

[ZB1224]

Lakers win again against a tough Bucks team. So far the experiment of having Kobe guard the team's best offensive player is working. Kobe has now held Kyrie Irving to 15 points (7/15) and Brandon Jennings to 12 points (4/14 shooting).

The biggest thing, however is how Nash and Kobe got Dwight involved early and often. Dwight finished with 31 points on 14/18 shooting, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks... he only turned it over 2 times. Dwight wasn't going up against scrubs either... he was going up against Larry Sanders, Samuel Dalembert, and John Henson, all whom are + defensive players. I said it last game and I'll say it again; Dwight is pretty close to 100% right now. He is moving so much better, jumping higher, dunking everything and looks like the Dwight we thought that we were getting. The Lakers still have to get more contributions from their bench, but perhaps the return of Pau Gasol and Steve Blake will help that (more so Gasol). I'm hoping that D'Antoni keeps starting Clark at PF next to Dwight (gives Dwight much better spacing and improves our defense so much since he's very active) and brings Pau off of the bench... probably won't happen, but I can dream, right?

[C47]

I feel like Kupchak and MDA need to make a call on Earl Clark. Do they believe his play the last few games is an anomaly, or do they see performances like this on a regular basis. If it's the latter then I think you have to move Pau ASAP. Dwight and Pau just don't work together, that much is obvious. Also, I'm not buying that Dwight won't be in L.A. next year. Winning cures all, and now that the play on the court has improved, the team seems to have much better chemistry. Everyone is giving high fives down the court, communicating better, and frankly, just playing more like a team. Call me naive, but I don't see Dwight walking away from the chance for the Lakers to be his team in another year, let alone the extra guaranteed money, and millions in endorsement escalators from being in Los Angeles.

For this reason you have to move Pau. I'm not even talking about a blockbuster three team deal bringing back another star either. I would much rather see Pau sent out in order to bring in several reliable bench players. I honestly would love a package centered around Derek Williams to play SF/PF and Barea to backup Nash, or maybe see if you could get some young athletic legs who can shoot from a team like Cleveland. Either way, I like what I've seen out of the Lakers the last couple of games, defensive effort has been 100 times better (no surprise with Dwight back, and obviously back is getting stronger), and the chemistry on the floor from the starters has led to much easier baskets. Still a long way to go, and tomorrow night will be a huge test, but I won't be shocked if this team can go on a run and make things interesting down the stretch. Not saying they'll make the playoffs, but it wouldn't shock me....

[ZB1224]

I feel like Kupchak and MDA need to make a call on Earl Clark. Do they believe his play the last few games is an anomaly, or do they see performances like this on a regular basis. If it's the latter then I think you have to move Pau ASAP. Dwight and Pau just don't work together, that much is obvious. Also, I'm not buying that Dwight won't be in L.A. next year. Winning cures all, and now that the play on the court has improved, the team seems to have much better chemistry. Everyone is giving high fives down the court, communicating better, and frankly, just playing more like a team. Call me naive, but I don't see Dwight walking away from the chance for the Lakers to be his team in another year, let alone the extra guaranteed money, and millions in endorsement escalators from being in Los Angeles.

For this reason you have to move Pau. I'm not even talking about a blockbuster three team deal bringing back another star either. I would much rather see Pau sent out in order to bring in several reliable bench players. I honestly would love a package centered around Derek Williams to play SF/PF and Barea to backup Nash, or maybe see if you could get some young athletic legs who can shoot from a team like Cleveland. Either way, I like what I've seen out of the Lakers the last couple of games, defensive effort has been 100 times better (no surprise with Dwight back, and obviously back is getting stronger), and the chemistry on the floor from the starters has led to much easier baskets. Still a long way to go, and tomorrow night will be a huge test, but I won't be shocked if this team can go on a run and make things interesting down the stretch. Not saying they'll make the playoffs, but it wouldn't shock me....

I see zero reason why Earl Clark can't continue to play at a high level. I'm not sure he's going to have too many more "Clark-sanity" type of performances, but if he can average 10 ppg, 10 rpg, 2 bpg, spread the floor and play good help D + on ball D that will be a huge upgrade over Gasol. Pau is very skilled still, but he's not fully healthy, he has declined a bit, and his defense on PF's is really poor. He can guard post players pretty effectively with his length, but when he's asked to guard most PF's he just gets destroyed. I am on board with trading Pau for 2-3 key role players. I think that Minnesota makes a ton of sense. Derrick Williams, and JJ Barea would be a good start, but there would need to be a 3rd team involved for salary cap purposes. I wonder if there would be any chance of getting Derrick Williams, Barea, and Ben Gordon from Charlotte? Gordon is a key role player for the Bobcats (very key), but they aren't winning with him and he's not in their future plans imo.