Nitro

How can someone taking like 10 shots a game (shooting 60% on them) be throwing this team sooooo out of sync? His defensive stats are phenominal as well, and his rebounding is slightly lower than usual because he's playing next to a guy who is naturally a C in Pau. If he was getting so many offensive opportunities you might have a slight reason to say that, but he's not getting a ton of opportunities.

I'm really loving the bench of this Nets team. Watson, Evans, Blatche, and....JERRY [expletive]ING STACKHOUSE! They have really surprised me so far this season.

This is FALSE, specificially his defense. Check the advanced this season....his opponent PER in near a league low, and with Dwight backing him up he has been able to be more aggressive defensively than he has been in YEARS. And I don't think he will continue shooting this well from the field. But if he maintains 46-48% and with a TS% of around .580, that will be elite. Stackhouse was extremely inefficient and did NOTHING but score. To compare him to Kobe this season is a [expletive]ing joke. Infinitely more talent than the rest of the league? Bynum was either completely injured or playing on one leg in both the 2009 and 2010 post-seasons, and besides that he had Pau, Odom, and half the rest of the roster isn't even in the league anymore (Sasha, Farmar, Fisher, Walton, etc...). He had a great team around him, but it wasn't leagues ahead of his peers. And as for your rebuttals to my scenarios, you aren't getting the point. The team with the best player doesn't always win, it's a team game. In '04 the Lakers had by FAR the 2 best players and they got tossed in 5. The '11 Heat had 3 of the 4 best players on the court (and Wade actually had the best series, including Dirk), and yet they got beat in 6 games. Games aren't always decided by which team has the best player. It's who has the best team. ONCE AGAIN, Nash doesn't need to post HoF numbers for this team to win. Ok, if the Ron Harper thing didn't click, let's look at Isiah Thomas. He put up HoF numbers earlier in his career, and while his teams were good, they didn't win shit. When his stats took a hit due to his changing role and various team needs, he won 2 championships, back-to-back. Point being is Nash doesn't need to put up huge stats to win. Turning Kobe and Pau into spot-up jumpshooters, and not giving Dwight enough post opportunities will NOT maximize this team's talent. These aren't the Los Angeles Suns. Playing a role more similar to what he did in Dallas, who HAD THE NUMBER ONE OFFENSE IN THE LEAGUE MULTIPLE YEARS, is what will serve this team best. The grandpa bench and inept coach could end up killing this team, but that would not be Kobe, Dwight or Nash's fault.

I agree that Dwight needs to be at least 1B to Kobe in order for this team to win a championship, but Kobe is not done. He is leading the league in scoring and is having his most efficient season ever...honestly he is playing better right now than he did the last season he won a championship. And that last paragraph is idiotic. Dallas went through Miami without LeBron getting hurt, the '04 Pistons went through LA without Shaq or Kobe being hurt, etc... This is a team game, and the Lakers will likely outclass any team they face in terms of talent. Whether it all comes together remains to be seen, but if it does then OKC and SA are not better teams than a healthy Laker team. It doesn't matter if Durant is better at this point than Kobe, or if Duncan is better. Once again, Dallas had the #1 offense in the league when Nash was there in a halfcourt set. He didn't put up the record-breaking stats, but he still made a huge impact. Look at it like the Bulls that won 72 games. The season before Ron Harper was a 20/5/5 type player, but he had a much smaller role when he got with the Bulls. Even though he didn't have the same stats or role as he did on a lesser-talented team, he still made a HUGE impact on arguably the greatest team in NBA history. Nash didn't go to LA to be the 20/10 player he was in Phoenix...he knew that going in, as did the organization. And if everything clicks the way it could, there is no reason for him to have the same responsibility. It would be counter-productive to the team. And LeBron is the best player in the league...by far. I'm probably the biggest LeBron supporter in this place. But fact of the matter is this is a team game, and it takes awhile for these super-teams to gel, especially if one of them (Nash) isn't playing, and another (Dwight) is coming off a serious back surgery...on top of having 3 different coaches in a 10 game span. I saw it with Miami in 2010 when they got off to a slow 9-8 start because of chemistry issues, and when they did finally click they reeled off like 14 straight wins and got to the Finals. Talent will eventually prevail, and this Laker team is no different. If they are still a .500 team midway through the season, with the entire team healthy, then you can start dissecting the situation.

Take Nash out of the equation, he's played like 35 minutes total this season. Dwight is coming off a serious back surgery and is used to a system with 4 shooters around him at all time, and has never been around around an iso scorer like Kobe, 'nor a big man like Pau who doesn't provide the spacing guys like Rashard Lewis and Ryan Andersen did for him. And yes, LeBron's sheer talent makes up for so many team deficiencies....but he's also the best player in the game at his absolute peak, and is one of the most versatile players of all-time. Kobe is in his 17th season, to expect him to do what LeBron does is unrealistic. For that matter to expect ANYONE in the league to do what he does is unrealistic. Dallas had the #1 rated offense in the league the last few years Nash was there. Just because he wasn't leading the league in assists doesn't mean his personal and team effectiveness wasn't there. And 1.5 games isn't enough to judge his play, especially since at the time he was playing with an awful offensive coach in a brand new system with a totally new supporting cast. Lastly, Nash doesn't need to run and gun to be highly effective offensively. He's arguably the best pick and roll PG in the league, and with Pau and Dwight he can be lethal in halfcourt sets, along with being an elite 3pt shooter. If he comes back healthy, he and the offense should be just fine. It may not maximize his talents individually, but the team will be more dangerous and multi-faceted than his Suns ever were.

Still, they are top 11 in opponent PPG, FG% and 3pt%, and the Lakers are top 3 in defensive rebounding. Don't see how they can be in the bottom half of the league in defensive efficiency.

Where are you getting these numbers. BBR has them 13th in Ortg, and 6th in Drtg.

He's starting in his first game played in like 10 months? At what, 35 years old or so? Wow, I don't agree with that...at all. Then again I've never been a huge Chauncey fan, so whatever.

I believe Miami was 9-8 that first year with prime Wade and Bosh on his team. Not saying that Kobe is as good as, or even that close to LeBron now, but this is not Kobe's fault. And keep in mind Nash has been out pretty much the entire year.

As always, Dwight needs more shot attempts. And it is very apparent the Lakers sorely need Nash back because they are so hilariously bad offensively outside of Kobe/Dwight.

He's a very underrated player. In a lot of ways he's Joakim Noah light...very agile, versatile defender with a ton of energy, rebounding ability, great off-ball cutter, and has some passing and ballhandling ability (though I think that's where Noah gets the edge). Would make an awesome role player on any contender.

Kobe and Dwight are 13-25. The rest of the starters are 2-20.

Most slept on rapper? Hell nah, not even amongt mainstream guys. He's of the Cassidy/Juelz Santana mold...above average rapper with good punchlines and the occasional street banger. As far as mainstream guys go, I'd put someone like Jadakiss over him as far as being slept on...he has a case at being a top 15-20 rapper all-time, but doesn't get those kind of props. Anyway, I'll check this out some time in the next few days. How'd you like it?

Definitely works for the Knicks...they get out of Amare's contract, and Pau would definitely fit in better with NY than Amare does. As for the Lakers, I don't know. If Amare comes back healthy, then he would fit in nicely with Nash, but will there be enough shots to go around with Kobe, Dwight, etc..? And if Amare isn't scoring, he's not too effective. Also, his uninsured contract is a bitch, and when the new luxery tax penalties hit the Lakers will have a real problem (although if any team can afford that tax, it's LA).

Never would do this if I was the Lakers. As bad as Pau has been the last few years, his potential to be a game-changer is much higher than with Bargnani. Also, if I were the Lakers, I wouldn't be simply looking at PF's to replace Pau...I'd also be looking at wingmen to replace Artest. Lakers could use more explosiveness in the starting lineup, and the only person who makes sense to replace is Artest.

Also, it's not the subject matter that bothers me about Em. It's the technical aspect of rapping that he has fallen off so hard with, along with making terrible choices in production and features.

Who's 10th solo album (and like 13th album total) is arguably rap AOTY along with GKMC. G.O.A.T :glasses:

His delivery with the screaming makes him almost unlistenable now, and his punchlines and metaphores are so much simpler and weaker than they once were.

http://www.sharebeast.com/fdy0l9t0rvcg Seriously, dude needs to stop rapping. Pretty much everything he has put out or been featured the last year or two has been so [expletive]ing bad, and this is probably the worst yet. I have never seen a rapper fall of this hard and be so confused with his identity as Em is now.

Deron Williams' playmaking tonight has been brilliant. Breaking down the defense with ease, which has led to so many crisp passes to open, cutting players. And I don't know how Stackhouse is playing this well. 2 years ago with Miami he looked beyond done, but this season he has been servicable.

Melo is so efficient with his dribble in iso situation...he never wastes energy, always quick, to-the-point moves. It really is beautiful when he's knocking them down.

He CAN sustain both...but he won't. 82 games is a long time to sustain the type of defensive effort he has showed thus far this season (which has been pretty [expletive]ing good), and Kobe always has a few stretches every years where his shot selection fails him along with the occasional cold streak. I'd say 47-48% from the field is very likely, though, which would be a big improvement over last year.

It wouldn't be so bad if Ed Davis wasn't having such a great game, and if they weren't so close to beating SA. Smfh.

It pisses me off far more when he plays 40 minutes against the Kings and takes only 4 shot attempts. I don't care if he's gotta take a defensive rebound and wildly goes coast to coast with it and ends it with a contested 3 pointer...he needs to demand the ball and his shots. He's way too good to be taking only one shot every 10min.

New York has been my biggest surprise. They have been without their 2nd best player in Amare, and probably also their 4th or 5th best player in Shumpert, yet they are 8-2. I didn't expect Felton to come into the season in shape and as on point as he has been, definitely didn't expect Kidd and Smith to be this hot over such a big sample size, didn't expect Melo to tone down his chucking when he's not feeling it, and didn't expect their older guys like Sheed to be this effective and in tune with the rest of the team this early. Their defense has been the best I've seen all year next to maybe Memphis, and their offense has been free-flowing with all parts moving in sync. They look great. Kevin Martin heading towards the most efficient season from a perimeter player in NBA history has been a surprise to me. Charlotte being 6-4, with the little talent they have, has been a surprise. Boston struggling so much, despite getting younger and deeper has taken me a bit off guard, though I expect them to improve a lot. I expected Iguodala to mesh a lot more smoothly than he has so far in George Karl's system. Lastly, Anthony Davis' offense being so effective has been a big surprise to me. I thought for sure it'd take him at least 1-2 seasons before his scoring production would reach the late teens, but he's proven me wrong.