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Team is playing in cruise control tonight. Kobe is having to shot to make up for the lackluster play from pretty much everyone else.

 

That 3 point made by Dwight is getting into his head. Dude shot two jumpshots already today. Someone needs to confront him and tell him to stop acting like Drew.

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1. Pau is done. He gets no elevation which is destroying his ability to rebound, score in the paint, and contest shots. At this point the only thing we have in Pau is a glorified passer and a guy who can hit a 10 foot jumper from time to time.

 

2. D'Antoni needs to get over his grudge with Jordan Hill. Our biggest problem is defense, and Hill brings energy on defense something that we aren't getting from Pau. In all honesty, Jordan Hill should be starting over Pau at this point. Unfortunately for us Pau becomes even more passive when he has to work with the bench mob.

 

3. Hack-a-Dwight is working into the oppositions favor obviously. I don't care about Dwight's confidence, if the game is tight you sit Dwight it's as simple as that. Play Jordan Hill in his place, heck move Pau at the five. It's ridiculous that we've lost so many games because of poor free throw shooting.

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1. Pau is done. He gets no elevation which is destroying his ability to rebound, score in the paint, and contest shots. At this point the only thing we have in Pau is a glorified passer and a guy who can hit a 10 foot jumper from time to time.

 

2. D'Antoni needs to get over his grudge with Jordan Hill. Our biggest problem is defense, and Hill brings energy on defense something that we aren't getting from Pau. In all honesty, Jordan Hill should be starting over Pau at this point. Unfortunately for us Pau becomes even more passive when he has to work with the bench mob.

 

3. Hack-a-Dwight is working into the oppositions favor obviously. I don't care about Dwight's confidence, if the game is tight you sit Dwight it's as simple as that. Play Jordan Hill in his place, heck move Pau at the five. It's ridiculous that we've lost so many games because of poor free throw shooting.

If you tl;dr this post I'll sum it up quickly for you

 

 

Jordan Hill >>>

 

lol funny D'antoni still gotta coach this brick head in LA now

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Jordan Hill would likely be a better starter for us at this point, over Pau Gasol. Hill actually does well for us when he's in the game.

 

I don't think people realize just how bad Gasol is playing, and that we are starting Darius Morris at PG (Nash and Blake are still out). I know some of you like advanced stats...so take in the fact that Jamison and Hill's PER are both better than Gasol's right now.

 

Aside from the defense that Ron Artest gives us, we have two inept offensive veterans (one that thinks he should be a point-forward, instead of a PF, for all the times he passes on wide-open shots and never gets into the post), and a PG that should be in the D-League.

 

Kobe and Howard sound good, and they are playing very well...but Jamison aside (and his offense really doesn't make up for the lack of defense), the rest of the team resembles the Bobcats of last season.

 

Howard - 60% FG

Kobe - 49% FG

Jamison - 48% FG

Hill - 45% FG

 

The rest of the team, including Gasol, are shooting 42% or less from the floor.

 

Our third leading scorer is Ron Artest, who is taking six threes a night and shooting 41% from the floor.

 

Defensively, it's hilarious. Our bench may be bottom three in the NBA back on defense, and Gasol is dreadful at this point...I'd say that Antawn Jamison is similar in defensive impact. Teams know exactly how to attack us.

 

The funny part is, we actually play good on both ends of the court...in spurts. Then, we get ignorant, and lose the game. We are top ten in offense AND defense this year (ORtg and DRtg), and randomly, we'll play like we're bottom five.

 

------------------

 

Simply put, our turnovers and missed free throws are losing us games. We can still go with the free throw misses, as long as Dwight is shooting Shaq-like (because we have done it before, and so did the Magic), but we need a PG badly. We can't run with Darius Morris and Chris Duhon. It's mind-blowing to see those two trying to play in D'Antoni's system...one that has no basketball IQ, and the other who has no legs.

 

Once we get Nash back, we need to drive the final stake into the ground by trying to trade Gasol before the deadline. Even if we don't land another PF (like Josh Smith), we could always start Hill and trade for a three, bring Ron off the bench...or hell, even start Ron at the four, because he would still defend that position better than Pau, and we could always give Jordan Hill big minutes when we play a team like the Thunder (Perkins/Ibaka) or Spurs (Blair).

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For all the shit Pau gets, according to 82games.com, his opposing PF is averaging a PER of 12.3, and at center it is 6.6 (with his PER going way up to almost 19). Its actually incredible how much more productive he is at the center position opposed to PF, his EFG% is literally over .250 higher at the 5.

 

I'm not trying to sit here and act like I watch all the games and know what is going on, because I don't. But statistically, the Lakers are a better team with Pau than without him.

 

http://www.82games.com/1213/12LAL12.HTM

 

Seriously, what is it I'm missing? Then take a peek at Dwight's.

 

http://www.82games.com/1213/12LAL15.HTM

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For all the shit Pau gets, according to 82games.com, his opposing PF is averaging a PER of 12.3, and at center it is 6.6 (with his PER going way up to almost 19). Its actually incredible how much more productive he is at the center position opposed to PF, his EFG% is literally over .250 higher at the 5.

 

I'm not trying to sit here and act like I watch all the games and know what is going on, because I don't. But statistically, the Lakers are a better team with Pau than without him.

 

http://www.82games.com/1213/12LAL12.HTM

 

Seriously, what is it I'm missing? Then take a peek at Dwight's.

 

http://www.82games.com/1213/12LAL15.HTM

Howard meets a lot of players at the rim when they slip past Gasol.

 

Other thing is, there are a lot of instances where Gasol defends centers, mainly because he's slower. Problem: 82Games doesn't know that. So, when Brook Lopez obliterates Gasol, 82Games sees it as "center production" (as if Howard is the one getting destroyed). But, it was Howard who was defending Humphries and holding him to 2-10 shooting (because otherwise, Hump would just take Gasol down low and physically work him over).

 

It's better to look at a guard's defensive numbers on 82Games if you have a clear-cut PG and SG on a team. However, you still run into a similar problem, where a guard's defensive numbers are better/worse because of a defensive anchor (or, as you know, a Bargnani) in the frontcourt.

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I love watching the players/coaches being interviewed and blaming all sorts of things for losing, and not mentioning Dwight's free throw problems as on reason.

 

When will someone call him out. Aren't Lakers fans sick of seeing Dwight happy go lucky every game, despite missing free throws and throwing the whole team's offense off balance?

 

I'm sure there's something to this Gasol-Howard thing, but at the same time, Dwight's free throw problems are going to kill the team morale.

Edited by Cleveland's Finest
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I love watching the players/coaches being interviewed and blaming all sorts of things for losing, and not mentioning Dwight's free throw problems as on reason.

 

When will someone call him out. Aren't Lakers fans sick of seeing Dwight happy go lucky every game, despite missing free throws and throwing the whole team's offense off balance?

 

I'm sure there's something to this Gasol-Howard thing, but at the same time, Dwight's free throw problems are going to kill the team morale.

Howard is at 47%. Shaq also shot under 50% (I believe it was 49%) when we reached the 2004 NBA Finals.

 

We have dealt with this problem before.

 

We are losing games because we continue to turn the ball over (not having a PG in a PG-driven offense is a big deal), we can't utilize the P&R without Nash (and that was one of the biggest reasons to pair Nash and Dwight), and we can't get consistent help on offense, aside from our two superstars.

 

Atlanta is 28th in the NBA in free throw shooting, a hair under 69% (we are 66%), and they are 9-5 right now.

 

Brooklyn is 27th in the NBA, and yet, they are 11-5.

 

Meanwhile, the Hornets shoot free throws better than most teams, 4th in the league...and are 4-11.

 

Our misses can be a problem, but it's not our biggest problem. We can win it all shooting poorly from the FT line.

 

In 2004, we shot 69% (28th).

 

In 2002, it was 70% (28th).

 

In 2001, we were at 68% (29th).

 

In 2000, 70% (28th).

 

Three of those seasons (last three) were championship seasons, and one was our NBA Finals loss to Detroit.

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Trading Pau is impossible at this point. No team is going to give up a starter in exchange. At best we can probably trade him for a couple solid role players and insert Jordan Hill into the lineup. Heck pull the trigger on the Bargnani trade that might be the best option on the table.

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