874 replies to this topic

[Notorious Arab]

What [expletive] kind of performance was that. Just disgusting.

[LakersChamps243]

The defense that was a problem tonight was the defense of Howard. he altered shots when he stayed in the lane.

HOWEVER he played lazy defense on cutters, he played lazy defense on Hawes who isn't going to try to take it to him in the post and would leave Hawes every single time wide open for a mid range shot which is the only chance Hawes ever has to score on Howard.


Dwight obviously knows this. But when he's mentally checked out and wants to give the illusion he is playing good defense, he overhelps, leaving one of his teammates on an island to rotate over and stop the guy he left 5 steps away and then will look at them as if they messed up the assignment. No... Dwight did.

Those last plays where Dwight constantly left Hawes open in the corner was as obvious as it gets of a guy that's mentally checked out.

That plus Dwight never looked for his shot, when Dwight is mentally out of it he will do three things.

1) He will look at the ref to call fouls for him.
2) He will overhelp on defense and look at his teammates for not rotating fast enough eventhough he leaves them in an impossible situation.
3)Make stupid fouls trying to anchor for position

Dwight did this all night and in the 4th quarter on 4 separate posessions he left Hawes wide open while he overhelped on defense.

THAT is what cost us tonight, the effort or lack their of, of Dwight Howard.

And when our 2nd leading scorer only has one field goal and isn't looking for his shot while also being our main anchor on defense and doing the above 3 things, it will be hard game by any stretch of the imagination.


Disappointed in Dwight tonight. Extremely. Him not being healthy was NOT the reason he gave a half assed effort tonight.

Ya I agree with you Majesty. Most of the time I haven't been reading your posts cuz they are so long lol but that's right on point.

[Lagunero]

agree with what James is saying.

Did we run the pick & roll tonight at all? I don't remember much of it if at all to be honest. What gives?

[noknife]

My point is we never shoot from the 3 this bad. Even in a horrible game we normally would have won this. 3-22 is extremely rare for this team.

Just did

[KarlCalaguas12]

Is Mike D'Antoni volunteering for this job? He collects a very handsome check if I'm not mistaken.

When PJ coached the Lakers, we won 5 championships. Mike doesn't know anything about championship basketball.

So, you are saying if Phil was coaching this team right now, they will be championship contender? I understand that Phil won five rings with the Lakers but it doesn't mean the Lakers would win a ring automically with Phil as a head coach.

[Windu]

Most of the time I haven't been reading your posts cuz they are so long

Most accurate post ever.

[Lakers4Life]

gay

[Majesty]

Spencer Hawes + Lavoy Allen > Dwight Howard + Pau Gasol. This should never be the case.

Embarrassing effort, this team is going nowhere if we keep on showing such a lack of urgency in games. I think we'll make playoffs for sure, but I haven't seen enough consistency to think that we can even get past the 2nd round. It's one thing to play your asses off and come up short, it's another to just not give a damn and go through the motions on the floor. No defense, no movement on offense, and just so many terrible decisions throughout the game. Just an ugly all-around game.

Agreed 100%. very critical of Dwight's effort tonight. His overhelping off Hawes cost us a LOT down the stretch. He does that to mentally convince himself he's playing defense so he can look at the guy that had to rotate 5 steps away as if it's their fault but it isn't.

Watching him constantly leave Hawes wide open when he had no reason to even rotate over was down right upsetting.

[Hollywood]

So, you are saying if Phil was coaching this team right now, they will be championship contender? I understand that Phil won five rings with the Lakers but it doesn't mean the Lakers would win a ring automically with Phil as a head coach.

yup he the goat for a reason. You dont win 11 rings coaching by being alright.

[Majesty]

Ya I agree with you Majesty. Most of the time I haven't been reading your posts cuz they are so long lol but that's right on point.

Yes, I can be critical of the team without giving up all hope apparently


But there is absolutely no way to defend Dwight tonight. His lack of effort down the stretch even though his entire game was bad tonight, and down the stretch of the 4th he was even worse. He can't be the anchor of our defense if he checks out like that.


What Hill did was come in and tear up the Sixers in terior defense and got 10 points.

Dwight, got one field goal, Hill outplayed both Dwight and Pau but at the very least Pau went after his own shot, Dwight was less aggressive than Pau.

I cannot believe I just said that

[Windu]

So, you are saying if Phil was coaching this team right now, they will be championship contender? I understand that Phil won five rings with the Lakers but it doesn't mean the Lakers would win a ring automically with Phil as a head coach.

Nothing is automatic...nothing is guaranteed.

But what we do know is that PJ is a superior coach to D'Antoni and would've given us the BETTER opportunity to win. How the [expletive] do you choose a coach with ZERO championships (and one that is allergic to defense) over arguably the greatest coach ever...IN ANY SPORT?

[Lakerace24]

Personally haven't been to a Laker game in a while and I don't feel bad about it almost one bit. With how much those tickets cost and considering how often this team is a no show and doesn't put the effort we the fans pay money to go watch and deserve (at the least), you're better off spending that money on much more important things.

Nail on the head.

[L.A.K.E.R]

Did we run the pick & roll tonight at all? I don't remember much of it if at all to be honest. What gives?

There were numerous picks, but no rolls by either of the bigs. Pau was content to float 20+ feet out and Dwight was just lazy all night long. They were trash tonight.

Kobe might have chucked up some bad shots tonight (especially near the end), but he was at least trying to will us to a W. Our frontline (aside from Jordan Hill), played like D-Leaguers tonight. Just embarrassing.

[fido]

"Personally haven't been to a Laker game in a while and I don't feel bad about it almost one bit. With how much those tickets cost and considering how often this team is a no show and doesn't put the effort we the fans pay money to go watch and deserve (at the least), you're better off spending that money on much more important things."

I totally agree with that too

[Hollywood]

Nothing is automatic...nothing is guaranteed.

But what we do know is that PJ is a superior coach to D'Antoni and would've given us the BETTER opportunity to win. How the [expletive] do you choose a coach with ZERO championships (and one that is allergic to defense) over arguably the greatest coach ever...IN ANY SPORT?

lol alergic to Defense

[KarlCalaguas12]

yup he the goat for a reason. You dont win 11 rings coaching by being alright.

Look, I love Phil Jackson. He is my favorite coach of all time but sometimes you have to move on. Yes, the Lakers handled the coaching situation very badly but we have to move on. Like I said before, even if Phil was coaching this game, I still think the Lakers would still lose this game because they played lazy basketball. This loss is on the players effort. By the mid third quarter, they just quit mentally (except Jordan Hill).

[Majesty]

Watching these instant replays. How the heck can Dwight keep leaving him wide open every single time to go trap in a corner.

[Windu]

Watching these instant replays. How the heck can Dwight keep leaving him wide open every single time to go trap in a corner.

coaching

or lack thereof

[Majesty]

There were numerous picks, but no rolls by either of the bigs. Pau was content to float 20+ feet out and Dwight was just lazy all night long. They were trash tonight.

Kobe might have chucked up some bad shots tonight (especially near the end), but he was at least trying to will us to a W. Our frontline (aside from Jordan Hill), played like D-Leaguers tonight. Just embarrassing.

Actually there was a pick and roll late in the game.


Remember late in the game when Kobe "threw the ball away"

It was actually off a pick and roll with Dwight. He saw Dwight rolling to the basket and thought he'd look for the ball.

So he threw it.


But Dwight had NO intention of scoring and was jogging to the other side, not even looking at Kobe so the ball fell behind him.


If Dwight was looking for the pass he would have waited and gotten the pass off Kobe from the pick and roll and took it to the basket.

But he didn't. He set the screen and then he jogged to the basket, not looking at Kobe or the ball. Dwight wasn't looking to score. And late in the game wasn't looking to defend aside from feigning it by over helping off Hawes.

coaching

or lack thereof

You shouldn't need coaching to tell a 3 time defensive player of the year to not help off a center whose only chance of scoring on you is a jump shot 5 steps away when the person you're "helping"'s back is to the play.

Dwight was overhelping down the stretch and wasn't looking for his shot down the stretch. That's 100% on him.

Edited by Majesty, January 01, 2013 - 10:18 PM.