Game Thread: Lakers @ Warriors 11/24/15 7:30pm

The more people talk about Luke, the more I like the idea. He's young and can grow as a coach while our youngsters grow as players. He's also young enough and played recently enough, to be able to relate to them in ways that older former players like Byron really can't.

Like it or not, today's players don't respond to hard line coaches like they did back in Byron's day. Today's players are pretty much sissies in that regard and have too much power for coaches to truly challenge them and hold them accountable like in the old days.

trojanfan12 said:

The more people talk about Luke, the more I like the idea. He's young and can grow as a coach while our youngsters grow as players. He's also young enough and played recently enough, to be able to relate to them in ways that older former players like Byron really can't.

Like it or not, today's players don't respond to hard line coaches like they did back in Byron's day. Today's players are pretty much sissies in that regard and have too much power for coaches to truly challenge them and hold them accountable like in the old days.

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That doesn't explain Byron's total lack of understanding fundamental basketball concepts like 3 point shots and transition defense. It's not new millennial players. Byron Scott just isn't good at his job. This was predictable. Everything I said about Scott from the moment he was hired has pretty much happened.

Byron Scott's only accomplishment thus far with the Lakers appears to be his tough camps that gets everyone in physical shape and somewhat mental shape but little else. Luke ascribes to something similar but his offense, game situations substitutions/rotations, and defensive strategies are light years ahead of Scott. And of course, Thibs is still out there.

wildturkey said:

That doesn't explain Byron's total lack of understanding fundamental basketball concepts like 3 point shots and transition defense. It's not new millennial players. Byron Scott just isn't good at his job. This was predictable. Everything I said about Scott from the moment he was hired has pretty much happened.

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The problem isn't 3 point shot attempts. Currently 30.2% of the Lakers shots are 3 point attempts, that's 12th in the league. The problem is makes. They are making 31.5% of their 3 point shots which is about 24th in the league. Only the Rockets, 76ers, Pistons, Heat, Grizzlies and Nets shoot worse from 3. You don't keep shooting 3's if you can't hit them.

The transition defense definitely needs work. Not sure how much of the problem is youth and how much is scheme at this point.

trojanfan12 said:

The problem isn't 3 point shot attempts. Currently 30.2% of the Lakers shots are 3 point attempts, that's 12th in the league. The problem is makes. They are making 31.5% of their 3 point shots which is about 24th in the league. Only the Rockets, 76ers, Pistons, Heat, Grizzlies and Nets shoot worse from 3. You don't keep shooting 3's if you can't hit them.

The transition defense definitely needs work. Not sure how much of the problem is youth and how much is scheme at this point.

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Its not the attempts, its how they get them. He still doesn't understand their usefulness and how they play the a larger role in creating space. 3s have to be built into the offense because they're the thing that opens space, which leads to the most efficient shots; layups. But through interviews and watching his teams play, its pretty obvious Scott just views a 3 as something to be taken only if its available once everything else is done with a play. His philosophy is backwards. You have to space the floor with action designed to get a 3 and then you either 1) Use it to attack the space during the defensive rotations or 2) Shoot it if its a good look.


The transition thing is mostly scheme. Its a floor balancing issue. Some of the balancing issue is because the offense is a mess so guys are just aimlessly wandering around. But its mostly that he has too many guys crashing down for rebounds or just getting lost when the ball goes up. Watch the offensive possessions on a rebound and you'll see 3 sometimes 4 Lakers at or below the FT line. That's an issue because it only leaves 1 guy back towards halfcourt if the opposing team gets a rebound. (It's especially bad if its Bryant, who makes no effort at all anymore). One outlet pass and you're beat. What's been found through analytics and film study over the last decade or so is you need to designate 2 guys to go for the offensive rebound. With the flight patterns of the ball, your 2 best rebounders should be able to cover the area. The other 3 players need to be ready to sprint back on D. If you crunch the numbers, its better to sacrifice offensive rebounds to prevent transition buckets because teams score more frequently in transition. That's why you only need a couple players going for a rebound.

Understand about the 3's. Where I disagree is there really isn't a reliable 3 point shooter on the roster. Williams is supposed to be, but that hasn't been the case, Swaggy is too streaky and Kobe has been an embarrassment. The closest thing to reliable is Clarkson. It's hard to make it part of the attack if guys can't hit it. Byron is old school though, so I'm sure it's also not being emphasized in practice like it probably should be.

Yeah, I've noticed the 3 or 4 Lakers below the free throw line. Seems like a bit of a catch-22 on that. If they rely on 2 to get the defensive rebound, they end up giving up extra shots, if they crash the boards, they're vulnerable in transition. The bigs need to do a better job on the defensive boards.

Yep TJF12. We have no sharp-shooter from the 3 strip like what is in Warrior-land. It is killing our offensive production.We may have gotten rid of our three-point shooting corp we had under Don'tknowi. I wonder if this was something Scott influenced due to his resistance to the 3-point shot. Didn't Scott recently lobby for a 4-point shot? Go figure.

Retroram52 said:

Yep TJF12. We have no sharp-shooter from the 3 strip like what is in Warrior-land. It is killing our offensive production.We may have gotten rid of our three-point shooting corp we had under Don'tknowi. I wonder if this was something Scott influenced due to his resistance to the 3-point shot. Didn't Scott recently lobby for a 4-point shot? Go figure.

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Yeah, it's kind of a chicken or egg thing at this point. Is it because the Lakers just don't have anyone who can shoot it at a decent clip, or can they not shoot it at a decent clip because it's not emphasized enough in the offense?

If it's the former, it will be a problem all year until they can make a trade or get an FA or 2 in the off season who can shoot it. If it's the latter, a couple of offensive tweaks to get guys open in better spots could fix it rather quickly if Scott recognizes it and makes those tweaks.

It's funny. Under D'Antoni it was "why are they settling for so many 3's?" Under Scott it's "why don't they use the 3 more?"

Well didn't Scott put the kabosh on the three last year? And now he wonders why his players this year don;t take more threes. Scott should look in the mirror and question that perhaps some of the problems of his team start with him.

Retroram52 said:

Well didn't Scott put the kabosh on the three last year? And now he wonders why his players this year don;t take more threes. Scott should look in the mirror and question that perhaps some of the problems of his team start with him.

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He kind of did at first. But as the season progressed, they shot it more. They still finished 25th in attempts though. This year, so far, they are 12th in attempts. So they are shooting it, they just aren't very good at it.

The last game I watched, there sure were a lot of clanks from all distances. We need shooting and scoring in the worst way.