Coach Nick Breaks Down Lakers-Jazz

[Erick Blasco]

Coach Nick wasn't a fan of Steve Blake against the Jazz, and raves about Deron Williams. Check it out!

 

http://bballbreakdown.com/

[Real Deal]

Still not a fan of this guy.

 

http://bballbreakdown.com/2010/11/06/chris-paul-retakes-the-best-point-guard-in-the-league-crownwhy-the-heat-are-still-not-elite (CP3 best PG in the league)

 

That was on November 6th.

 

The Lakers bench didn’t help their team in a crucial stretch in the 2nd quarter, allowing Utah to get right back into a game in which they were being blown out. Deron Williams again proved he’s the best point guard in the NBA, hands down.

This is three weeks later.

 

----------

 

Also, his title is, "Lakers at Jazz – Barnes and Blake Bare The Brunt of the Blame."

 

He's hard on Blake, but he only stuck Barnes into the title because his name starts with a "B" and, according to his video, Barnes changed the entire game by...cussing out the referee?

 

He jumps Raja's ass for going under a Gasol screen and allowing Kobe to shoot the three, stating, "Are you crazy?" Well, there's only one other option, to chase him over the screen and lose Bryant, force help, and give Gasol a higher percentage look (sometimes, a dunk). LA does this all the time.

 

He says he hates how Kirilenko put his hand on Kobe's waist 27 feet away from the rim, says he hates what Bryant does by drawing the foul and pretending like he's going to try and shoot the ball because he's only doing it to get the call, and that he can never make that shot. "There's no chance he'd ever make that shot." Really? I have a few clips of him shooting deep threes, not even at the end of a quarter/game, and drilling them.

 

Kobe passes the ball to Artest for a late-game shot, and Nick is jumping on Bryant for not moving after the pass? It's too bad he doesn't know that Jackson wants Bryant back on defense with four others crashing the boards (like Pippen or Jordan in Chicago, depends on the game) and, aside from that, when does Ron pass up a shot that is drawn up for him? He faked, drove straight to the rim, and didn't look at a single teammate before putting up his fadeaway.

 

When the shot clock first screwed up, and Nick states that it wouldn't have affected the game due to the Jazz having four back...too bad he's wrong there as well. Look at Odom and Artest at the bottom of the screen. Utah had two guys watching Gasol down low, and either Ron or Odom were going to be open for the three if Fisher started to swing the ball, from Kobe to one of them (which happens a lot).

 

For the last play of the game, Nick isn't so sure Kobe can make "that kind of a pocket pass" to Gasol? LOL...what the [expletive] is this dude saying? Did he ever watch Kobe and Shaq? Did he watch any games over the last three seasons? Was Gasol really "more open" than Ron? Please.

 

He ends his video by stating that Barnes (who he mentioned maybe twice in the entire analysis) and Blake can't bring it every night. He spoke not a word about Shannon Brown, though, who shot 2-8 in 18 minutes of play, much worse than Barnes' 3-6 shooting, 8 points and 5 boards in nearly the same amount of minutes. I guess it was all about the one foul on Barnes, and him cussing out the referee, which earned him the place in the headline. He also decided not to talk about Fisher's chucking and poor shooting (1-7 if I recall correctly), just his poor defense on the basketball god, Deron Williams.

 

Why didn't Nick cover the November 22nd Jazz game against the Kings, when Deron was absolutely picked apart? Why did he miss the following games?

 

11/13 @ CHA - 17 PTS (5-15 FG), 9 AST

11/17 vs. NJN - 23 PTS (5-13 FG), 8 AST

11/19 vs. SAS - 23 PTS (7-19 FG), 5 AST

11/20 @ POR - 12 PTS (3-13 FG), 11 AST

11/22 vs. SAC - 12 PTS (4-14 FG), 9 AST

 

All within the last two weeks, also...between the time he stated that Chris Paul was the best PG in the NBA after beating the Heat, and stating that Deron is, hands down, the best PG in the league after beating the Lakers.

 

Haha. I'm sorry, I understand he has a lot of knowledge, but what he knows is a bit overrated. He sticks his hand into these videos telling everyone what a team is running on offense, and how a team defends...but he's not analyzing these players very well. Blake shoots 0-7 and he's a problem in this game? Sure he is. My own mother can determine that. There was a bad hand-off between Kobe and Gasol? Sure was...everyone watching the game, coaches or fans, saw it and recognized it as such.

 

He should start to consider what these players have done in the past, and how they play in more than just one game, before talking about just one game. Kobe can't fit in a pocket pass to Gasol? Absurd, Nick...one of the most ignorant things I've heard you say. He shouldn't have passed to Ron for that open three? Is that what you would've recommended when he did it against Boston in Game 7, the shot that caused Ron to blow kisses to the fans and eventually gave him a championship ring?

 

All he's doing is telling his viewers how an offense works, and pointing out the mistakes on both sides of the ball. I think he puts more effort into putting his clips together, honestly. Kudos for that, but if he's going to evaluate the players on the court, he needs to do a better job of it.

[kingfish]

And a couple weeks ago for the Heat - Celtics he said Rondo was the best PG in the NBA.

 

This guy is definitely a joke.

[Erick Blasco]

He does wobble too much, and I wish he wasn't so wishy-washy...he says he's going to do a comprehensive point guard breakdown soon and I hope he sticks to one gun during that one. I think he's going to look at the Bulls soon, and I'm prepared to hear, "Derrick Rose is by far the best point guard in the NBA."

 

I think he stuck Barnes into the title in that Barnes' stupid technical was the turning point according to him.

 

As for the individual points, Brandon, you NEVER give Kobe an open jumper. He'll make those shots nearly all the time. You always fight through against a good shooter and trust your defense against the threat of Kobe's drive. When Bell went over the screens, the Jazz had some decent success against Kobe, and they took away the passes to Gasol. Kobe hit a tough three, but most of the other plays were strung out very well. That's good defense. Taking a short cut and giving Kobe an open jumper is playing Russian roulette.

 

I think the outrage on the Kirielnko foul is that Kobe isn't going up to shoot to make the shot. If it goes in, it's fluky. He's trying to strictly draw a foul. I don't agreee with Coach Nick's outrage, but I can see where he's coming from. It's like what John Wall did a few weeks ago when he chucked up a 50 footer knowing Philadelphia had a foul to give and was going to foul him. Nobody actually takes 50 footers trying to make them (unless you're Vince Carter).

 

With the Kobe standing around thing, Fisher was back balancing the floor.Kobe could've simply backed up to the middle to receive an emergency pass. He and Fisher just stood in the same place. you can see Fish trying to set a screen for Kobe towards the end and Kobe ignored it.

 

With the shot clock thing, the Jazz could easily have rotated. They had plenty of time.

 

With the way the Jazz defense was set up, the help defender responsible for Gasol was standing in front of the basket. Gasol would've had a mid-range jumper. I trust Gasol rolling or popping from 15 more than Artest on a corner three, but I'm not going to be too hard. I think Kobe found an open man which is a good play. I even appreciate Kobe's trust in Artest. A left-handed bounce pass moving away from the target is incredibly difficult. Few players can make them, and most of their names start with Steve, Deron, or Chris. Maybe Rondo can make that pass, but most defenses never go under screens so I have no idea. It's not much of an insult to say that Kobe can't make that pass. LeBron and Wade can't. If he tries to use two hands, the Jazz would've probably clogged the hole and Kobe would've had a more looping pass which would've allowed the defense to close to Gasol.

 

He also did talk about Fisher making an awful pass, and it's hard to describe EVERY single play in a basketball game. He focused on general trends, Deron Williams, and the close of the game.

 

About the D-Will stuff, look at those assist numbers and his team's offensive execution. If he makes the right play and misses good shots, he'll usually make---I mean what are you going to do, destroy a guy for missing a few open jumpers? Also, it's impossible for someone to watch every single moment of every single game, and even more impossible to post scouting reports on it. He probably was watching Jazz-Lakers because they're two high profile teams, just like his work on the Heat.

 

He wasn't getting on Blake for missing shots really, just those two awful decisions to pick up his dribble to early and try some scoop layup. It's very important for players to stay within their roles.

 

I also think he does a good job. Most of what he's said is stuff I agree with in my own analysis. There are disagreements, but at least he shows his work and makes analysis based on his work. If you have a counter you can show of a few pocket passes Kobe's made, go ahead. I don't remember him making any left-handed pocket bounce passes. All I remember off the top of my head is D-Will and Nash. I've seen much less of Chris Paul, so I can't explicitly say that he would've made that pass either.

[Poe]

I've watched Nick's videos from time to time. He's definately not a joke, but I wouldn't trust him to be my coach either personally. Though I don't always agree with him, I find that he does usually make some interesting points, and most of the key areas he points out in each game are at least worth noting, whether I personally agree on his take or not.

 

 

I do agree on intricate things like going under screens against a shooter, though such things are elementary. Other small things I don't agree with, like saying Blake shouldn't take advantage of a layup opportunity. If you don't trust Blake to take a layup, you might as well not let him play. Even if it's a bit contested, he still had a good angle on both shots, he just aimed poorly and didn't execute. And also, if Artest can't be trusted with a very good looking corner three, then LA has some issues to figure out.

 

And saying Barnes is part of the core reason the Lakers lost is very odd... especially since he had a decent game scoring and rebounding the ball. The only real negative appears to be his lone technical, and saying that committing a technical foul is the reason LA lost is absurd. Techs give 1 point to the opposing team (if the free throw is made... oddly enough). LA lost by 6.

 

 

Just from looking at the box score, it seems clear to me from noting individual player performances that the point guard position was the Lakers' biggest issue. Both Blake and Fisher played poorly offensively, and neither provided much resistance defensively to Deron Williams. So if I'm going to blame the loss on the performance of two players, it should clearly be Blake and Fisher.

 

From a different perspective, you can also blame the Jazz's win on Deron Williams being such a damn hard cover, and him penetrating and breaking down the Laker defense so well. And also give credit to Al Jefferson being in the right place at the right time off the ball.

 

 

 

Also, seeing him switch from "who's the best PG" thing in his vids is clearly done for attention. He's trying to create discussions/arguments in his videos so that they get more comments, ultimately generating more views.