Will the Lakers miss the playoffs?

[starbigd]

You know what's funny, and I shoulda said this before they beat the Spurs because I was thinking it as soon as Kobe got injured, but what if the Lakers actually play better with Kobe outta the lineup. Let's face it, they have enough talent on this team to win the West without Kobe if they just play to their potential.

Disagree.

They will play better from a team perspective because they aren't forced to run offense through Kobe.

But you aren't getting 20 a night from Steve Blake and Jamison every night. You don't have anywhere NEAR enough talent.

They basically have no bench. BLAKE is your starting PG with Nash out, and even with Nash, you lose on the defensive end.

They have enough talent to make a series interesting, but not enough to beat the top 4 seeds save maybe San Antonio.

 

[wildturkey]

The Lakers play better IMO without Kobe......because they can actually run Dantoni's offensive system.

You know what's funny, and I shoulda said this before they beat the Spurs because I was thinking it as soon as Kobe got injured, but what if the Lakers actually play better with Kobe outta the lineup. Let's face it, they have enough talent on this team to win the West without Kobe if they just play to their potential.

Disagree.

They will play better from a team perspective because they aren't forced to run offense through Kobe.

But you aren't getting 20 a night from Steve Blake and Jamison every night. You don't have anywhere NEAR enough talent.

They basically have no bench. BLAKE is your starting PG with Nash out, and even with Nash, you lose on the defensive end.

They have enough talent to make a series interesting, but not enough to beat the top 4 seeds save maybe San Antonio.

Lol. Nice double talk. You should join First Take

 

[starbigd]

Lol. Nice double talk. You should join First Take

How is this double talk? The offense as a whole runs better when one guy isn't taking all the shots.

HOWEVER, the pieces you have aren't going to generate enough points on a regular basis

I fail to see what's so hard to understand about that.

 

[HammerDown]

Haven't heard what happens if the Lakers and Jazz end with a tied record. Who would take the last playoff spot?

 

[rmilia1]

Haven't heard what happens if the Lakers and Jazz end with a tied record. Who would take the last playoff spot?

Jazz own the tiebreaker

 

[HammerDown]

The Lakers don't need the playoffs but my main concern is wear and tear on Kobe, which is now of course a non-issue. With the draft being so weak this year, it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference, does it?

 

[wildturkey]

How is this double talk? The offense as a whole runs better when one guy isn't taking all the shots.

HOWEVER, the pieces you have aren't going to generate enough points on a regular basis

I fail to see what's so hard to understand about that.

Because you're wrong on multiple fronts. That's why. You want to say they're better without Kobe which they aren't. They rank higher with him in offensive efficiency when he's on the court as opposed to when he isn't. And they've been running D'Antoni's offense, so you're wrong on that as well. D'Antoni places heavy emphasis on pick and rolls. That still what LA does. They've adjusted for their personnel however. Nash and Kobe flipped roles. Nash is a better spot up shooter and Kobe is more of a threat turning the corner on the pick. They also threw in the ability for Kobe to post up if he's matched up on smaller guards.

So you tried to say LA is better off without him because they can run D'Antoni's system better. You're imply that the offense would be better without him because "The offense as a whole runs better when one guy isn't taking all the shots". Hammer says they could be better without. Then you disagree (after the Spurs game in which Blake played out of his mind) to chime in and say that they aren't better and its not sustainable. But you already said they were better at the offense without him. That's double talk. You tried to cover yourself with caveats whether its at running a specific system or whether a player can sustain something, etc. But the facts are the offense is still largely D'Antoni's philosophy and statistically they are better with Kobe in that system as opposed to when he isn't.

 

[starbigd]

Because you're wrong on multiple fronts. That's why. You want to say they're better without Kobe which they aren't. They rank higher with him in offensive efficiency when he's on the court as opposed to when he isn't. And they've been running D'Antoni's offense, so you're wrong on that as well. D'Antoni places heavy emphasis on pick and rolls. That still what LA does. They've adjusted for their personnel however. Nash and Kobe flipped roles. Nash is a better spot up shooter and Kobe is more of a threat turning the corner on the pick. They also threw in the ability for Kobe to post up if he's matched up on smaller guards.

So you tried to say LA is better off without him because they can run D'Antoni's system better. You're imply that the offense would be better without him because "The offense as a whole runs better when one guy isn't taking all the shots". Hammer says they could be better without. Then you disagree (after the Spurs game in which Blake played out of his mind) to chime in and say that they aren't better and its not sustainable. But you already said they were better at the offense without him. That's double talk. You tried to cover yourself with caveats whether its at running a specific system or whether a player can sustain something, etc. But the facts are the offense is still largely D'Antoni's philosophy and statistically they are better with Kobe in that system as opposed to when he isn't.

I don't have all the stats, I'm simply going by the eyeball test.

They seem to move the ball better and get everyone more involved without Kobe on the floor. That is what I mean by the offense playing better.

That is not the same thing as saying they are a better team.

What they got from Blake and Jamison are not sustainable longterm, and you and I both know it. Every team has games where they get points from unexpected sources, but it's not something you can rely on.

 

[wildturkey]

I don't have all the stats, I'm simply going by the eyeball test.

They seem to move the ball better and get everyone more involved without Kobe on the floor. That is what I mean by the offense playing better.

That is not the same thing as saying they are a better team.

What they got from Blake and Jamison are not sustainable longterm, and you and I both know it. Every team has games where they get points from unexpected sources, but it's not something you can rely on.

That's not what you said though. You said the Lakers in your opinion play better without Kobe because they can run D'Antoni system. You're talking about the offense the entire time. And what you said is just not true. The Lakers offense is not better without Kobe and they aren't better at running D'Antoni's style without him either. Now you're trying to say an offense is suppose to be better simply because more players get involved. That's a false assumption. Just because you think more players touch the ball, doesn't mean its efficient. There's more to it than that.

 

[wildturkey]

Here's the playoff scenarios I read over on ESPN:

If Lakers beat Hou: LA is the 7 seed and will play SA. Hou is the 8th and plays OK

If Utah loses and LA loses: LA is the 8 seed and plays OKC

If Utah wins and LA loses: Utah is the 8 seed and plays OKC

 

[starbigd]

That's not what you said though. You said the Lakers in your opinion play better without Kobe because they can run D'Antoni system. You're talking about the offense the entire time. And what you said is just not true. The Lakers offense is not better without Kobe and they aren't better at running D'Antoni's style without him either. Now you're trying to say an offense is suppose to be better simply because more players get involved. That's a false assumption. Just because you think more players touch the ball, doesn't mean its efficient. There's more to it than that.

Well then I defer to your knowledge on this. They appear to be better without Kobe, but if you have the facts, you have the facts.

I don't think they're a better team without Kobe though. He's by FAR their best player. But I do think they rely on him too much, and don't get the other players involved.

They're the only team in the league with two 7 footers in the paint and both are all stars, yet the offense doesn't really run from the inside out. I've never understood what the point was to having them if they aren't going to run offense through them.

The assumption is that they run everything through Kobe instead. Its going to be interesting to see how they adapt post Kobe.

 

[bksballer89]

Utah needs to win so we can have high drama 1030 EST tmr night

 

[Rolln300]

I am hoping they make it just to see how they play without Kobe.

Good to see our over here now too BKS

 

[bksballer89]

Yeah man CBS just took away the msg boards today without giving any of us a heads up. Little do they know that most people went to CBS for the msg boards...Not to read their news articles

 

[Rolln300]

I agree, they lost a lot of people today. Not only for message boards but for Fantasy.

 

[wildturkey]

Well then I defer to your knowledge on this. They appear to be better without Kobe, but if you have the facts, you have the facts.

I don't think they're a better team without Kobe though. He's by FAR their best player. But I do think they rely on him too much, and don't get the other players involved.

They're the only team in the league with two 7 footers in the paint and both are all stars, yet the offense doesn't really run from the inside out. I've never understood what the point was to having them if they aren't going to run offense through them.

The assumption is that they run everything through Kobe instead. Its going to be interesting to see how they adapt post Kobe.

Yes, bow before me! I am all knowing!!!! Nah, but seriously you're right that they probably rely on him too much. If they do make the playoffs, it will be interesting to see how they adapt. I'd run everything through Pau at the high post since he's such a skilled passer. They've used him more there since his return (D'Antoni finally figured it out) but he still worked off Kobe some to initiate it.

Oh, and welcome to you newbies above. Please feel free to invite any of your CBS buddies over. The more NBA fans, the better

 

[UTVolCountry]

I almost want Utah to win, lol

 

[Wajih AlBaroudi]

They will make the playoffs but its fixed by the NBA Lakers always in top 5 team merchandise sale so they need to make atleast round 1, The refs making some BS calls lately towards the Lakers

 

[Bearhawk1219]

They will make the playoffs but its fixed by the NBA Lakers always in top 5 team merchandise sale so they need to make atleast round 1, The refs making some BS calls lately towards the Lakers

There's a great video on Youtube that show's a ton of examples of the Lakers getting crucial, late game calls.