450 replies to this topic

[BSLMikeLowe]

Opening Night

Despite missing LeBron for most of the 4th Quarter due to cramps, Miami held off a late charge by Boston to win on ring ceremony night. Good Heat debut for Ray Allen versus his old team.

Dallas, without Dirk and Kaman, looked very impressive in beating the Lakers. Rick Carlisle is a damn good coach.

[SBTarheel]

I don't want to overreact, but the Lakers were very unimpressive. Nash got completely outplayed by Collison, and their second unit looked terrible, though Jordan Hill plays really hard on both ends. Just one game obviously, but I expected them to come out strong.

[mweb08]

I don't want to overreact, but the Lakers were very unimpressive. Nash got completely outplayed by Collison, and their second unit looked terrible, though Jordan Hill plays really hard on both ends. Just one game obviously, but I expected them to come out strong.

It will take some time for them to mesh.

I don't think Howard is 100% yet either.

I also question how they were running their offense as Nash was playing off the ball too much and they weren't running much pick and roll despite having some of the best P&R players in the league. With time hopefully this stuff will improve.

But yeah, the bench is poor. However, I don't think there's much reason to only have 1 of the 4 stars on the court at once. I'd like Brown to change the rotations so at least 2 of them are on the court together at pretty much all times.

[SportsGuy]

Dallas has a lot of new pieces as well and no Dirk last night...so, the Lakers meshing excuse only carries so much weight.

Miami struggled when the big 3 first got together, so this isn't really unexpected and it likely could go on for a while.

All that matters, for LA, is that they mesh and are healthy come playoff time.

[mweb08]

If the Thunder didn't make that deal, I'd still have them as the favorite in the West.

[PD24]

I haven't read this whole thread so I apologize if this has come up, but I'm not sure about the Princeton style offense. I just feel like Nash and Howard are totally neutered in the offense. Gasol is really the only player highly suited for it, and his value drops because Dwight is taking up so much space. I guess Kobe would fit it okay as well...but Nash and Howard I don't see how they can be successful in it.

[mweb08]

I haven't read this whole thread so I apologize if this has come up, but I'm not sure about the Princeton style offense. I just feel like Nash and Howard are totally neutered in the offense. Gasol is really the only player highly suited for it, and his value drops because Dwight is taking up so much space. I guess Kobe would fit it okay as well...but Nash and Howard I don't see how they can be successful in it.

Well that's understandable, after all, there were 5 whole posts, none of which written by Shack.

[PD24]

I also think the Lakers should explore having Metta coming off the bench and being the go to guy along with Jamison. Obviously he has defensive value, but offensively he is a total liability in his current role. He has no room at all to post up and he isn't a good 3 point shooter. I honestly think a guy like James Jones would fit better for the Lakers offensively starting at SF than Metta does right now.

Metta IMO can still be an effective scorer but he's the 5th option in the current offense and because of that he forces shots. Not only that, but Howard and Kobe are going to be doubled and Metta whoever is playing SF will get a ton of open looks from downtown...Metta just is not a 3 point shooter.

I'd even explore having Gasol come off the bench as well in a role not unlike Harden played with OKC last year.

[mweb08]

I also think the Lakers should explore having Metta coming off the bench and being the go to guy along with Jamison. Obviously he has defensive value, but offensively he is a total liability in his current role. He has no room at all to post up and he isn't a good 3 point shooter. I honestly think a guy like James Jones would fit better for the Lakers offensively starting at SF than Metta does right now.

Metta IMO can still be an effective scorer but he's the 5th option in the current offense and because of that he forces shots. Not only that, but Howard and Kobe are going to be doubled and Metta whoever is playing SF will get a ton of open looks from downtown...Metta just is not a 3 point shooter.

I'd even explore having Gasol come off the bench as well in a role not unlike Harden played with OKC last year.

Metta actually is a good corner 3 point shooter, which is what he should mostly be doing on this team. His defense is still valuable as well, which is why he should get plenty of minutes, especially considering the lack of good options behind him.

He's not much of a go to scorer at this point, which was supported by some awful iso plays by him last night so there's no way I'd feature him at any point when there are 4 stars that should be featured plus even Jamison is a better guy to feature.

I'd let Nash and Howard play a lot of pick and roll with Meeks, Hill/Gasol, and Jamison/Metta.

I'd also go with a lineup with Gasol, Kobe, Metta, Hill, and Blake at times.

[PD24]

Metta actually is a good corner 3 point shooter, which is what he should mostly be doing on this team. His defense is still valuable as well, which is why he should get plenty of minutes, especially considering the lack of good options behind him.

He's not much of a go to scorer at this point, which was supported by some awful iso plays by him last night so there's no way I'd feature him at any point when there are 4 stars that should be featured plus even Jamison is a better guy to feature.

I'd let Nash and Howard play a lot of pick and roll with Meeks, Hill/Gasol, and Jamison/Metta.

I'd also go with a lineup with Gasol, Kobe, Metta, Hill, and Blake at times.

You have any stats to back up that he's a good corner 3 point shooter? (Not saying you should go do research, just asking) He can definitely make it but I look at him as more of a volume 3 point shooter than a pure one even in the corner.

And obviously you don't feature him when the starters are on the court but I think he could be featured at times with a lineup of Blake, Meeks, Metta, Gasol/Jamison, and Hill...

[mweb08]

You have any stats to back up that he's a good corner 3 point shooter? (Not saying you should go do research, just asking) He can definitely make it but I look at him as more of a volume 3 point shooter than a pure one even in the corner.

And obviously you don't feature him when the starters are on the court but I think he could be featured at times with a lineup of Blake, Meeks, Metta, Gasol/Jamison, and Hill...

Not on me so to speak, but I read it recently. He's not great, but pretty good. He shouldn't be shooting contested 3's, but in this lineup he'll get plenty of set, open looks that he is pretty good at.

I just don't understand why that lineup would ever see the court in a competitive game, especially the one with Jamison. There's 4 stars on the team that should combine to play 140 minutes a game so two of the stars should be on the court at all times imo.

[Oriole85]

ESPN: Knicks-Nets to play Thursday

http://espn.go.com/n...hurricane-sandy

Glad to see!

[mweb08]

Some injury news: Eric Gordon and Danny Granger are both out indefinitely. Bynum as well. Who knows when these guys will return, all of which are quite important to their teams.

[Oriole85]

ESPN Dallas: Mark Cuban hopes Lakers 'suck'

http://espn.go.com/d...les-lakers-suck


ESPN Dallas: Mavericks won't be pushed around

http://espn.go.com/d...-angeles-lakers

[mweb08]

Tom Haberstroh ‏@tomhaberstroh
Last night marked the first time in Kobe's CAREER that he didn't take a free throw or a 3-ptr in a game. (min. 15 mins)

[FlavaDave10]

The Heat looked REALLY good. I mean, when your bench consists of guys like Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Haslem, and Mike Miller, that's just ridiculous. I'd like to see Norris Cole get more involved, but it's hard to argue with Chalmers playing when he plays as well as he did last night. They appear to have the depth to be able to adjust to virtually any opponent.

The Celtics played quite well too. Huge fan of Rondo, he's arguably the best pure PG in the East. They're younger and more athletic than they were last year now that they have guys like Jason Terry, Brandon Bass, and Courtney Lee. If anyone in the East can beat the Heat, it's the Celtics.

[mweb08]

Lewis looked quite good and he's a key for them. If he has a resurgence that will be huge for their bench.

[FlavaDave10]

Lewis looked quite good and he's a key for them. If he has a resurgence that will be huge for their bench.

Rashard's going to be a key guy for them as they face teams with bigger and stronger power forwards and centers (which might be the only kind of team that the Heat would have trouble matching up against).

[BSLMikeLowe]

Tom Haberstroh ‏@tomhaberstroh
Last night marked the first time in Kobe's CAREER that he didn't take a free throw or a 3-ptr in a game. (min. 15 mins)

On the postgame show they also said it was the first time Nash ever scored less than 10 and less than 5 assists in a game (min 20 mins.)

[mweb08]

On the postgame show they also said it was the first time Nash ever scored less than 10 and less than 5 assists in a game (min 20 mins.)

That's a remarkable combination of firsts.

Hopefully it has a lot more to do with getting acclimated to this new offense and teammates as well as the offense not be ideal, rather than decline due to aging.