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[Coupé It]

I don't get you sometimes, you want Dwight back so much, but he is playing like **** and his body language just screams he wants to leave, yet you have Pau, who isn't what he used to be, but he's trying out there and when he's started in place of Dwight, has played well.

Then you hate Blake, whose done a pretty decent job and has somewhat fixed our backup point guard problem. Would you rather trot out Duhon or Morris?

Who are we going to get for Pau? There is nobody in the league that makes us better, you want to start building for the future? You want to trade Pau for young players? Then you are giving up this last window of Kobe and Nash, because nothing i've seen from Dwight this year has showed me he's a dominant center, or is going to be the centerpiece for a championship team.

Prove me wrong Dwight, show me something. I don't want to hear from your dad or your mom, or you seven baby momma's. Show me something, give me a 25 and 15 game, be the defensive juggernaut that you claim to be.

Agreed. When it's all said and done, Pau Gasol's career > Dwight Howard's.

Essential is in love with the "sexiness" and "appeal" the Dwight Howard name brings to the table. The story line and history of Wilt, Kareem, Shaq the Lakers have, he so desperately wants for Dwight Howard. Essential believes in this "Dwight" idea so much, he's never doubted the fact Dwight may leave, he's never considered trading Dwight, he never acknowledges Dwight's attitude, and barely criticizes Dwight's game.

Essentials not alone tho, because these views are shared by either Mitch or Jim Buss, whoever is pulling the strings right now. They're going all-in for Dwight when in all honesty, they shouldn't. Huge gamble for a mediocre reward - in my opinion.

 

[CP1708]

Would have liked 5-2 much better, that Suns loss kills us.

We need to make a statement tomorrow to our own selves and beat them by 25 tomorrow. Absolute blood in the water go for the throat murder them.

Unfortunately, in reality, when you have been on the road for 2 weeks, that first game home is always a HUGE letdown. Lack of energy, listless, etc. Happens to every team that has one of those 8-9 game road trips. We have to fight thru that tomorrow and make it a point to get a win at home against a team we should dismantle.

Have to have it.

 

[va757va]

^^ive never been one to blame pau, say get rid of pau..i love pau for what he brought, he won with us...little else matters...

now, i dont want dwight or pau gone..that takes away from our biggest advantage....and i dont have to say it, but its obvious dwight isnt himself...

i dont want THIS d12 on our team....when i heard we were getting dwight i went DUMB...but he left all those 20 and 20 games, even 20 and 15 games in orlando...

thats the dude laker fans want...i want to see some DOMINANT games...its crazy to think that dwight and klove would routinely put up 20/20 nights....now with love out and dwight in LA, have we seen a game like that all season??

im not blaming dwight, NO WAY WERE A BETTER TEAM WITHOUT DWIGHT HOWARD(pau either for that matter) but dude needs to snap out of it...dude needs to just produce...one rule of scouting is if you seen it before on tape, that means he can do it again....ive seem dwight dominate this league, night in night out, with a much weaker supporting cast....

notice i didnt say anything about injuries...if your on the court, dont cry about injuries taking from your game...simple as that...people do it everyday b..

 

[black migo]

^^ive never been one to blame pau, say get rid of pau..i love pau for what he brought, he won with us...little else matters...



now, i dont want dwight or pau gone..that takes away from our biggest advantage....and i dont have to say it, but its obvious dwight isnt himself...

i dont want THIS d12 on our team....when i heard we were getting dwight i went DUMB...but he left all those 20 and 20 games, even 20 and 15 games in orlando...

thats the dude laker fans want...i want to see some DOMINANT games...its crazy to think that dwight and klove would routinely put up 20/20 nights....now with love out and dwight in LA, have we seen a game like that all season??


im not blaming dwight, NO WAY WERE A BETTER TEAM WITHOUT DWIGHT HOWARD(pau either for that matter) but dude needs to snap out of it...dude needs to just produce...one rule of scouting is if you seen it before on tape, that means he can do it again....ive seem dwight dominate this league, night in night out, with a much weaker supporting cast....


notice i didnt say anything about injuries...if your on the court, dont cry about injuries taking from your game...simple as that...people do it everyday b..

Dwights so used to the offense going through him and just kicking it out to a shooter if hes doubled that it hurt his game ..... Stans system with dwight and four shooters hurt his game

 

[illest35]

^^ive never been one to blame pau, say get rid of pau..i love pau for what he brought, he won with us...little else matters...



now, i dont want dwight or pau gone..that takes away from our biggest advantage....and i dont have to say it, but its obvious dwight isnt himself...

i dont want THIS d12 on our team....when i heard we were getting dwight i went DUMB...but he left all those 20 and 20 games, even 20 and 15 games in orlando...

thats the dude laker fans want...i want to see some DOMINANT games...its crazy to think that dwight and klove would routinely put up 20/20 nights....now with love out and dwight in LA, have we seen a game like that all season??


im not blaming dwight, NO WAY WERE A BETTER TEAM WITHOUT DWIGHT HOWARD(pau either for that matter) but dude needs to snap out of it...dude needs to just produce...one rule of scouting is if you seen it before on tape, that means he can do it again....ive seem dwight dominate this league, night in night out, with a much weaker supporting cast....


notice i didnt say anything about injuries...if your on the court, dont cry about injuries taking from your game...simple as that...people do it everyday b..

WOW..THIS x 3 hunna

 

[pmatic]

Dwights overrated and since yao retired they just handed dwight the title for best center but marc gasol has that title now

when the hell was yao best center? lol

2007.

 

[jhawk826]

Anyone for signing Delonte West and Michael Redd?

I signed both of them and Keyon Martin on my 2K13 game and it made a world of difference.

Michael Redd?

 

[lynchpin33]

Mike Wilbon telling it like is about Kobe calling out Dwight on the Tony Kornheiser show. Basically saying that there is no football or anything else in southern california and basketball is everything out that way. And it is very hard out that way and basically this is something Dwight was not ready for.

 

[black migo]

Dwight just cant handle the fact that hes not the go to player anymore after 8 seasons being " the man"

 

[grandtheftbike]

Just wanted to drop in and say that if/when the Kings move the Lakers and the Heat are on my shortlist of teams I'm planning on hopping on their bandwagons..... especially with the Lakers having an off year, this seems like a great opportunity 

join the darkside

 

[pmatic]

Lakers Losing Late

As the Lakers stagger towards the All-Star break, every game is a reminder of how far the path of their season has deviated from the one they hoped and planned for. Although they have won 7 of their last 10 games, they still find themselves sitting at 24-28 overall, 15 ½ games out of the Western Conference’s top spot and 4 games behind Utah for the last playoff spot in the West.

In terms of wins and losses, the Lakers currently have the 18th best record in the league. However, their point differential per 100 possessions (Net Rating) is +2.0, which would rank 10th in the league. Although it may seem counter-intuitive to disregard wins, Net Rating is often a better measure of a team’s true ability. Just looking at a team’s record treats all wins and losses the same. But winning by 30 points says more about a team’s ability than winning by 5, and the same is true of losses. Net Rating captures not just the results, but the relative margin of those results. For a team, like the Lakers, who has outscored their opponents by an average of 2.0 points per 100 possessions to have lost more games than they won is something of a statistical oddity. To illustrate just how much of an outlier that is we can use a formula called Pythagorean Expectation.

Pythagorean Expectation, or Pythagorean Win Percentage, is a way of calculating how many games a team should have won given their point differential. Using this formula we find that a team with a Net Rating of +2.0 would project to win about 29 out of 52 games, instead of the 24 the Lakers have actually won. A team with a Net Rating of +2.0 should expect to win about 47 games across a full season. The Lakers are on pace for 39 wins.

Last season I wrote a post at Hickory-High and looked for patterns in teams that have significantly under or over-performed their Pythagorean Win Percentage. That element that tied those teams together was clutch performance. Regardless of how well or poorly a team plays across on an entire season, they will inevitably find themselves in a handful of close games. Those few minutes at the end of a close game offer an opportunity to escape the law of averages and over perform what your talent should allow. If you execute down the stretch you can win more than you should, if you fail to execute down the stretch you’ll lose more than you should.

This has certainly been true for the Lakers this season. Their season differential of +2.0 points per 100 possessions, shrinks to -2.5 when there is five minutes or less in a game with neither side ahead by more than five points. The Lakers have played 27 games this season that fit that description and have won just 10. That gives them a lower win percentage in close games than every team except the Wizards, Magic, Pistons, Bobcats, Raptors and Hornets.

When it comes to clutch situations the Lakers’ offense actually becomes more efficient, jumping from an average of 105.0 points per 100 possessions to 108.4. As has been the trend with their entire season, their problems are on the defensive end of the floor. In clutch situations, the Lakers’ are allowing 110.9 points per 100 possessions, nearly 8 points worse than their season long number of 103.0. In clutch situations they rank 23rd in eFG% allowed, 28th in opponent’s TO% and 19th in opponent’s ORB%. All of the issues they’ve struggled with at that end of the floor this season; sustaining effort, communication, awareness of the situation, a lack of athleticism; these all become exacerbated when the game becomes close. Time and time again the Lakers have done just enough to lose.

In the grand scheme of things, this focus on clutch performance, and clutch defense in particular, is a little nit-picky. Even if the Lakers had been winning tight games at a rate closer to what we’d expect ,they still would have their other 43 minutes of sloppy basketball to answer for. But part of me can’t help but wonder if they would have given themselves a little more breathing room.

If the Lakers had won as many games as their Net Rating projects, they would be 29-24, holding the seventh seed in the Western Conference, ahead of both Houston and Utah. Again, this would be a disappointing way to approach the All-Star break given their pre-season expectations, but the situation would likely not seem quite so dire. The looming weight of missing the playoffs might not be applying quite so much pressure to each player and they might be in better shape to put together a run over the last part of the season. Missing out on a few wins came down to poor performance over just a few minutes. And I wonder what a difference those few minutes could have made.

Link

There have been a number of games the Lakers have choked away, but there's been plenty of games where they get down 10+ points only to claw back but fall short.

Still an insightful read.

 

[jhawk826]

Ugh. More advanced stats. Anyone who's watched the games can tell you that in fewer and simpler words. They've lost winnable games and would be over .500 if they didn't drop them especially the ones they choked away and early season losses in which free throws cost them.

 

[essential1]

Pau comes back at the earliest end of March. At the latest last week of the season.

Then he needs a bit to get back in the swing of things.

To my delight, I hope this is the last year I have to watch him on the Lakers.

I don't get you sometimes, you want Dwight back so much, but he is playing like **** and his body language just screams he wants to leave, yet you have Pau, who isn't what he used to be, but he's trying out there and when he's started in place of Dwight, has played well.

Then you hate Blake, whose done a pretty decent job and has somewhat fixed our backup point guard problem. Would you rather trot out Duhon or Morris?

Who are we going to get for Pau? There is nobody in the league that makes us better, you want to start building for the future? You want to trade Pau for young players? Then you are giving up this last window of Kobe and Nash, because nothing i've seen from Dwight this year has showed me he's a dominant center, or is going to be the centerpiece for a championship team.

Prove me wrong Dwight, show me something. I don't want to hear from your dad or your mom, or you seven baby momma's. Show me something, give me a 25 and 15 game, be the defensive juggernaut that you claim to be.

Pau actually said he wants to leave. Gave us ultimatum on a Star Player and a Coach or him... Yet you passed over that. To talk about Body Language..

Look at yesterday

He went 6-9 from the field. 3-5 from the line. 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals.

If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have stayed in the game in the first 4-5 minutes of the 4th.

Another thing from yesterday. In 11 minutes by himself 4-4 9 points. 30 minutes with Kobe 2-5 6 points.


He's down to 10.1 shots per game. MWP 11.4 Pau 11.4 shots.

You want 25. How is that going to happen with 10 shots. You tell me how that happens.. He'd need 10 FTs, make all of them, and shoot 75% a game.

He's 16.2 - 11.7 - 2.4

Only 9 players have 10 rebounds a game. Only 9 players have 2 blocks a game. Only 2 have both. Joakim Noah and Dwight Howard.

Out of all of those guys only one has a better FG %.. Tyson Chandler.

Out of the 18 guys with 10 rebounds or 2 blocks..
Dwight is 5th in points per game.

But Zach Randolph , Nikola Vucevic, David Lee, DeMarcus Cousins, Serge Ibaka, Tim Duncan, Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez & Josh Smith all have more shots than him...

DeMarcus, Timmy, David Lee, Brook & Josh all shoot 3-4 times more than Dwight.. Have between .3-3.2 more points.

In February.. Pau 20 points on 16.3 shots.. You sure a guy averaging 16.2 on 10.1 isn't going to give you 20+ on 16 shots.. Look at the months prior for Pau.. November 11.7 points on 11.7 shots per game. December 12.8 on 10.8 shots January 12.8 on 9.8

Give me a damn break.

Talk about what you want on defense.. They were also playing some in Orlando... This team does the matador, let's hope Dwight can save us.

And then you want to talk about Blake... You honestly don't see the **** show our offense is when Blake comes in? Sure he hits a couple shots.. Great... But he plays zero defense, and as a PG is almost incapable of getting others the ball in a proper space. Sure he's better than Duhon and Morris.. But when you have a 38 year old PG. You need better than Steve Blake.. Call it hate all you want. But it is objective basketball. I said it in June, and it is still true February 11th.

I don't know if you know this... We are not winning a title this year or next year.. The amount of pieces that would be needed to get Pau's salary to match would be a couple bench players, and a boarderline starter. Our starting 5 is good. But if you think this bench will get it done, you're lying to yourself.

But sure.. Let's keep Pau Gasol for next year... Meaning we have to let Earl Clark go.. That is the actual choice that comes for this team... Because Pau is so awesome....

 

[essential1]

Ugh. More advanced stats. Anyone who's watched the games can tell you that in fewer and simpler words. They've lost winnable games and would be over .500 if they didn't drop them especially the ones they choked away and early season losses in which free throws cost them.

About 7 games they should of won..

 

[CP1708]

Earl Clark won't be back regardless of Pau. Less he feels like signing a 1 year deal.

And until Dwight starts playing like Orlando Dwight, ie, DPOY Dwight and 14 rebounds a game Dwight, its pointless to wonder what happens with him this summer. This Dwight isn't a max player. ORLD Dwight is. Period.

 

[jhawk826]

You've got to wonder with Dwight regarding his back is will his spasms flare up again. He's already less explosive because of them. Do the Lakers really want a situation in which they are paying him MAX money and he's having a T Mac-like situation?

 

[pmatic]

Ugh. More advanced stats. Anyone who's watched the games can tell you that in fewer and simpler words. They've lost winnable games and would be over .500 if they didn't drop them especially the ones they choked away and early season losses in which free throws cost them.

Nothing wrong with quantifying late game failures.

Ding: Nash's anger at Howard very real

What's wrong with you if the Greatest Teammate Ever is fed up with you?

Well, what's wrong with Dwight Howard is he still isn't trying.

And for Steve Nash – who has spent close to two decades in the NBA making anyone who tried hard next to him look better than ever and who said during his own MVP heights that if everybody worked as hard as him, he wouldn't even be in the league – not trying is infuriating.

They were always the most curious pairing of all the complex ones on these Lakers: The ultimate underdog and the No. 1 overall everything. The one who after practice Saturday was doing extreme pushups in conjunction with sprints, the other who was sitting in a courtside seat playing with his phone.

Neither of the Lakers' celebrated acquisitions has been healthy this season, which is part of the problem. It's about the only thing Nash and Howard have had in common.
For months, Nash has been talking about the Lakers needing to have "shared experiences" to grow together. That's tough if the teammates are seeing the experiences from totally different perspectives.

That's what prompted Nash and Howard to yell at each other in the third quarter of the Lakers' loss Sunday in Miami.

Nash drove and was trapped on the baseline by two Miami defenders, Udonis Haslem about to force Nash out of bounds and Mario Chalmers also there between Nash and Howard, who stood deep in the paint. The other three Lakers had the floor spaced the way Mike D'Antoni wants, all behind the 3-point arc, so no other Heat player could get to Howard.

Howard had time to stand there, stare at Nash and the two Heat players, hold his arms up and wave them.

So Howard's eyes and arms were working. Tragically, his legs and feet were not.

Are we going to chalk this up to after effects from his April back surgery, too?

Howard just stood there instead of trying to help Nash create a passing lane – and get himself an easy dunk, as Nash gestured afterward would've happened if Howard just did something besides stand there.

In Howard's eyes, he was open, so give him the ball. That has been Howard's point of view much of the season: He simply wants the ball, wants his touches, wants his shots – and yet refuses to buy into the D'Antoni doctrine that "the ball finds energy."

If Howard really lusts for individual offense so badly, why not try harder to get the ball? Even if he can't explode like he did when he fully trusted his body, at least try to do something. Just look at how well things went even with makeshift non-Nash point guards for Jordan Hill – with a herniated disk in his back and other injuries before requiring hip surgery – when he simply rolled hard off picks.

When teams trap or zone Nash, as they usually do, and stay at home on Kobe Bryant on the backside, it's pretty obvious that Howard is the guy with no one on him for the moment after the pick.

Catch, step, step. Score.

Not always, but certainly often – if you try.

Watch footage of those old Phoenix sets and it's more like pick and run for how hard the Suns would cut. Nash's magic has always risen out of everyone moving, teammates inspired by trust in him getting them the ball right on time if they brought real energy.

When Howard did not in that moment Sunday, after so many games now feeling trapped by so many instances of Howard's immobility, Nash snapped – far more so than when the two squabbled in Denver on Dec. 26, Howard's most lifeless game of the season besides Thursday in Boston.

Why won't Howard try?

He's simply afraid to hurt himself?

He wants to save his body for free agency and beyond?

He really hates pick-and-roll offense so much now – maybe because Shaquille O'Neal is so deep in his head that he's determined to prove O'Neal's preseason statement incorrect about the only way Howard is the best center in the league? ("If you want to go to flash and dunking and the pick and roll, you gotta go with Dwight Howard.")
Does it even matter?

When you know that this whole team's fate rides on Howard's level of effort, are 39 years old and just faced your own basketball mortality with a seven-week broken leg (and yes, Nash came back and is playing through his own nerve damage in his left leg, as Howard regularly cites about his left leg), it's enough to start steaming inside.
Even if you're known as the Greatest Teammate Ever.

Nash is not convinced Howard is incapable of playing pick and roll.

"We'd like to get him in the pick and roll more," Nash said Sunday. "I think that's how he was really good in Orlando. He'd pick and he'd dive and they'd swing and put it in to him, so he could get deeper catches and the help side has a more difficult time coming to him.

"I don't know. It's been difficult really to get him into that game – running into pick and rolls, diving hard, looking for the ball. We really haven't found that rhythm from him yet."

From him.

Howard would probably say for him.

He sat down after the game Sunday to do an interview with a highly attractive female reporter from Puerto Rico wearing clingy clothes and huge heels. Her first observation/question?

I watched the game today and you don't seem to be given the ball very much ...

Indeed, despite all the Defensive Player of the Year awards, the superficial stardom that Howard craves comes only from one end of the court.

It becomes a crucial issue when the Lakers aren't convinced Howard will consistently play hard on defense unless he has a role he accepts on offense.

Nash is not blameless for the Lakers' struggles; Bryant and D'Antoni, either. Rest assured, though, that even as the Lakers' brass tries to placate Howard so he'll re-sign, those three are on the same page about what hasn't clicked on Howard's end.

They've tried to feed him in the post early in games despite the analytics showing little production, and he has been trying a little harder in recent weeks – aside from sitting out because of fears over shoulder pain.

He tried on defense in the fourth quarter in Charlotte despite not getting any shots during the Lakers' improbable, important rally. And as long as Howard tries some – and his right shoulder appears to be sound enough for that considering he was hoisting 3-pointer after 3-pointer as his final warmup before tip-off Sunday – the Lakers will keep getting better.

They actually are in position to win their next two before the All-Star break (Suns, Clippers) and then two after (Celtics, Trail Blazers), all home games, and reach .500. As long as Howard tries some, yes, the Lakers will make the playoffs – as there's plenty of time to catch mediocre Utah or inexperienced Houston. And what if he really tries hard?

Even with his quarrel with Howard on Sunday, Nash said the Lakers are "sputtering in the right direction."

He isn't fed up to the point of giving up.

"We're not in here ready to quit on each other," Nash said. "We're still going for it. But it's just been really slow going."

That's how it goes when someone in a group believes failure is being done to him instead of by him.

Link

 

[essential1]

Earl Clark won't be back regardless of Pau. Less he feels like signing a 1 year deal.

And until Dwight starts playing like Orlando Dwight, ie, DPOY Dwight and 14 rebounds a game Dwight, its pointless to wonder what happens with him this summer. This Dwight isn't a max player. ORLD Dwight is. Period.

I think you have too much faith in that 2014 plan... They're going to try to keep Earl.. At whatever number of year. So long that teams don't go ridiculous on bidding for him.

And getting rid of Pau would be how they keep him. Shed some salary, so they have the numbers work out evenly.

 

[CP1708]

I find it incredibly fascinating that Nash is saying EVERYTHING Kobe says about Dwight. Nash and Kobe are obviously polar opposites, yet they see Dwight the exact same way.

That's not good.

 

[CP1708]

at making sure to sign Earl ******g Clark and ignore the 2014 set up.

Man.....

 

[Maximus Meridius]

I still don't understand why MWP is taking more shots than Nash and Dwight and dude shooting like 40% from the field.


This is a serious issue to me

 

[CP1708]

Earl Clark won't be back regardless of Pau. Less he feels like signing a 1 year deal.

And until Dwight starts playing like Orlando Dwight, ie, DPOY Dwight and 14 rebounds a game Dwight, its pointless to wonder what happens with him this summer. This Dwight isn't a max player. ORLD Dwight is. Period.

I think you have too much faith in that 2014 plan... They're going to try to keep Earl.. At whatever number of year. So long that teams don't go ridiculous on bidding for him.

And getting rid of Pau would be how they keep him. Shed some salary, so they have the numbers work out evenly.

No.

 

[essential1]

at making sure to sign Earl ******g Clark and ignore the 2014 set up.

Man.....

That set up will likely come and go... I'm telling you 2015 is a much better year.

2014:
PG: You can either max out John Wall on a qualifier. Or send Kyle Lowry a near max. We will still have Nash, so that's not happening
SG: If Kobe comes back. That's max. So Nash + Kobe + Dwight = $48 mil of $62 mil tax.
SF: You can hope Lebron or Melo opt out. Melo won't. Lebron most likely wait a year or two more if he does.

2014 offseason is going to be a meh couple of months

 

[essential1]

I still don't understand why MWP is taking more shots than Nash and Dwight and dude shooting like 40% from the field.


This is a serious issue to me

Most of his shots are wide open.. The rest are him trying to be Michael Jordan.

Teams want him shooting. And for good reason.

 

[darthska]

[quote name="CP"]I find it incredibly fascinating that Nash is saying EVERYTHING Kobe says about Dwight. Nash and Kobe are obviously polar opposites, yet they see Dwight the exact same way.

That's not good.[/quote]Damb.

Good point.