The Lakers Should Be Better

First I want to mention that I have been talking about this all season, and this is one of those times where I wish I would have taken the time to post something here earlier. This is a quick version of my thoughts on their team this year, but I dont see them making the playoffs this year unless they make a move and even so, it would take serious problems from multiple other teams for that to be a real possibility. They need to go 27-5 in their final 32 games to have a legit shot at making the playoffs in the West. This isnt likely.

The Lakers obviously have been a mystery this year. I did pick them to be the 5th seed in the West this year, but this level of issue is even more than I expected.  Dwight should be able to score 10 points a game just by running down the center of the floor to the basket. Gasol could arguably score 6 points a game the same way. Kobe has finally figured out that he isnt Michael Jordan and shouldnt be isolating as much anymore. If Kobe took less shots, he would be much more efficient and they would be really hard to guard. Kobe can have an easier time if he shared ball handling duties with Nash and played more off the ball, on cuts to the basket and coming off screens to spot up. Both Kobe and Steve Nash could run plays in the pick and roll with multiple different players like Artest, Antwan Jamison, Earl Clark, Jody Meeks, Dwight, Gasol, setting up shots or points down low. They need to run the floor. They've been lazy the whole season and that was evident before D'Antoni came in and it hampered them from running the offense to its best extent. You have options to score in transition, off pick and rolls, in the post with Kobe, Gasol, Dwight, Jamison, Artest, and with offenses involving Gasol as a facilitator from the top of the Key and even in post situations. This would also leave room for Gasol and Dwight to work together in many capacities, similar to part of Memphis' offense with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. In short, they have a couple of 1 on 1 players including Kobe to bail them out in situations where they cant find a shot, but these other options should be utilized more, and they need to work more as a collective group than having any one or two players lead the way. Kobe taking something like 15-18 shots a game would be a much better number for them as a team, and with Kobe getting less of a workload offensively, he may get some more energy on the defensive side of the ball. Their defense is a serious issue. Dwight cant be the only one doing it. They also have to help the helper b/c if Dwight comes to block the lane, his guy is wide open. They still cant guard the quick point guards off pick and rolls. They'll get destroyed by Westbrook, Chris Paul, Ty Lawson, Lillard, etc. Their rotations need to be better and they have a few players that should be capable.

Side note on the Stanton article. If I get the chance, I'll upload that and hopefully a couple of other things in the coming days. Have been busy. I still have been writing my thoughts on everything sports wise on my facebook page, but I intend to put up a couple of things here when I have some more time.