Josh Smith would be great, but I seriously doubt Atlanta is dumb enough to take anyone not named Kobe or Dwight, and we'd be dumb to make that trade.
As far as what Nash wants, that's really too bad. They are both reluctant scorers...one a big man fully capable of getting into the post and shooting a higher percentage, the other a PG that could shoot 50/40/90 this season AND average at least 15-20 a night...but neither are doing that, and neither are playing any kind of defense.
So, because of that, both can stand behind Kobe, not in front of him. At the end of the day, this offense, this franchise...it's built around Kobe Bryant. The defense can be centered around Dwight and Kobe. Everyone else falls into place. If we have to slow the game down, and dump the ball into Dwight, to give Kobe rest, that's what needs to happen. That doesn't mean we run Darius Morris at the two-guard position, and think that we can work an offense that completely ignores the P&R.
How much P&R did we even see tonight? Hardly any.
Until we start playing that way, we're going to continue to struggle as a 6-8th seeded team.
The [expletive] rotations need to go, the multiple fives need to cease, the quick offense has to stop, this idea that Ron Artest is our second option needs to be trashed, and this strategy to let Gasol shoot threes and Howard be ignored down low is going to CRIPPLE us by April.
As long as we're running Kobe Desperation ISO and Nash offense all game long, we are done. Kobe's teammates, and Mike D'Antoni, need to step up and change.
Tonight I was more frustrated watching Dwight not look for passes off the pick and roll and at times Pau did as well.
There were times off pick and roll where Nash looked like he was going to pass it to either Gasol or Dwight but had to hesitate because they weren't looking to score.
Well Gasol did late, but it was too little too late.
Wasn't happy with seeing Howard float offensively when Nash was looking for him. It seemed early on(Cause Pau AND Nash were getting him looks) when Howard would get fouled, he seemed frustrated at the refs and decided "if they aren't gonna call fouls I'm gonna stop looking to shoot" and it cost us. As he played very uninspired basketball down the stretch that he wasn't looking for Kobe to pass him the ball after a pick and roll which is basically what we've been running late in games(though through Howard and Nash) showed all that really needed to be seen. Dwight wasn't looking to score anymore.
he missed some easy shots early and was frustrated the refs didn't call fouls, so he disengaged himself from the offense cause he was frustrated. He needs to get over that, and fast.
Pau was dealing with that too once his first few shots didn't go down. I remember Nash found him perfectly off a pick and roll and Pau held the ball for about 4 seconds looking at the basket before he finally decided to take the mid range jumper.
It's hard for Nash to do what's right when the guys he's passing it too aren't gonna take the shot the moment Nash get's them the ball in a good situation.
Nash in his mind as he's said keeps track of when guys are on or off or are playing a certain way.
So when Nash watched both Gasol AND Howard hesitating to take shots off of looks he was giving them, he started passing along the wing more cause they were the only guys taking shots or looking for anything.
That's what messed up a lot of stuff tonight.
That's what I saw for the most part anyway.
We can't afford Gasol and Howard playing "aloof" on the offensive end since they are main area of attack in this pick and roll offense. So I think one of the reasons we didn't run pick and roll a lot tonight was because early on it was pretty much established that our two main weapons out of the pick and roll were 'floating' tonight.
And that makes it hard on Nash who then is gonna hesitate to pass them the ball because they aren't looking for a shot or to be aggressive.
Early on in the game when they were both engaged, Nash gave them looks and looks. They missed their opportunities and became passive or got frustrated cause the refs weren't calling fouls, and shut off. Which left little option except the wing players. Pretty much why I felt things went bad tonight on that front. Dwight not getting his first field goal till the 3rd quarter was upsetting. Watching him never look for the pass off a pick and roll with Nash and or Kobe that he's probably ran in practice a thousand times cause he's "floating" after 3 days off was infuriating.
Edited by Majesty, January 02, 2013 - 01:51 AM.
