Kobe and Nash's second half numbers vs. Hornets

[Real Deal]

For our big second half, coming back after being down by 25...

 

Kobe: 25 points (9-11 FG), 11 assists (18-point 4th quarter, 13 points in 20-0 Laker run)

Nash: 0 points (0-1 FG), 0 assists

 

Instead of typing 6-7 paragraphs about how Nash can't play any other way than what he is used to in Phoenix, or how much impact he truly has on this team when Kobe and Howard are rolling...I'll just leave this right here and let you guys discuss.

[Real Deal]

No idea what I was thinking...I know there won't be a discussion, so I'll go ahead and post what I did over at LN.

Basketball is a game of roles.

 

I'm not going to go and bump that topic I created about our offense back in October...would rather touch on it again. The key to our success was always going to be defining roles in this offense...whatever the offense. The Princeton, the 4-Out/1-In, the Triangle, the Run and Gun, etc...anything we put on the floor, we needed to define roles.

 

In just ONE of those I wrote above, Nash is the focal point as lead distributor. The team would have to be constructed around him to run and gun. That wasn't going to happen.

 

In the Thunder game, we were down 71-55 at the half. Nash and Dwight, both, were 1-7 from the floor. Pathetic games. I don't remember Kobe's exact numbers off the bat, but he had 18 points on efficient shooting (put it on Twitter, too lazy to go look), and Earl Clark was our second leading scorer, if I recall correctly.

 

A 55-point total, at the half, is actually not so bad. The 71 is horrible if we're talking defense, but we already know we will always have these problems because we are too slow, and we have a coach who doesn't know how to teach defense. Let's drop that subject immediately.

 

But see, having a good offense isn't about scoring the ball, it's about much more. Excellent offense calls for efficiency, multiple scoring options, defined roles (slashers, shooters, facilitators, post scorers), getting to the free throw line, etc.

 

We beat the Hornets last night, came back from a 25-point deficit (something we haven't done in over a decade), and we did it with our third-best player shooting one shot and not getting a single point OR assist. So I went digging, like I always do.

 

How many games have we seen this trio (Kobe, Howard, Nash) play out their defined roles, as efficient scorers, together...to result in a win against ANY team?

 

I'll pull a few recent games. I'm looking for 50% or better from all three at once (shooting), and double-digit scoring.

 

vs. New Orleans (Nash 2-7 FG, 29%, 5 pts) - WIN

vs. Thunder (Howard/Kobe shot under 50%) - LOSS

vs. Minnesota (Nash 4-12 FG, 33%, 10 pts) - WIN

vs. Denver (all three shot 50% or better, 10+ points) - LOSS

vs. Dallas (Howard 2-7 FG, 29%, 9 pts) - WIN

vs. Portland (Nash 2-11 FG, 18%, 4 pts) - WIN

vs. LA Clippers (Nash 3-9 FG, 33%, 7 pts) - LOSS

vs. Phoenix (Kobe 1-8 FG, 13%, 4 pts) - WIN

vs. Miami (all three shot 50% or better, 10+ points) - LOSS

 

Of course, I'm going to skip over a few games, just so I can get to the last time we actually accomplished this...which was:

 

vs. Utah (all three shot 50% or better, 10+ points) - WIN

 

January 25th - http://www.basketbal...1301250LAL.html

 

That game was a blowout...and in that game, Gasol also shot over 50% (7-8 FG, 15 pts), and we made up for Ron going 5-16.

 

Let's find another...

 

vs. Cleveland (all three shot 50% or better, 10+ points) - WIN

 

http://www.basketbal...1301130LAL.html

 

Another blowout.

 

I ran across the Clippers game we had back on January 4th. All three of our guys did it again, but Gasol (1-6), Artest (1-6), and Meeks (3-13) were incredibly bad. Explanation? Gasol was starting, Earl Clark was still sitting next to Darius Morris as a spectator, and Gasol's role on this team was not defined. We had no idea what to do with him.

 

Point...we can score 100+ on many teams, but that doesn't mean our offense is not a problem. The greatest offensive teams play off each other, can be efficient by doing so, and do NOT have to rely on a two-man game to win while a star third option plays like he's a deep bench player.

 

Again, our defensive problems won't be solved completely. D'Antoni will not install a defensive system...it just won't happen. Quote me. However, we can improve defensively by defining roles back on offense. We can limit the amount of shots Ron Artest takes from outside, we can be sure to keep our bigs closer to the rim for offensive rebounding opportunities (when Gasol returns), we can stop fast break opportunities by making sure we take good shots and not creating long boards to break on (obviously), and we can minimize turnovers in our halfcourt sets by having all players know where the ball is going at all times, and where they should be at on the floor.

 

THIS is what a coach should show his players. THIS is how an effective offensive strategy can 1) make opponents work harder on the defensive end, wearing them down, and 2) disarm fast teams from getting out on the break and running from us.

 

How many assumed Meeks would be the guy to spread the floor for us in that 4th quarter, instead of Nash? How many times, this year (2013), has Meeks shot 10+ attempts in a game? Six.

 

Meeks did what Nash was supposed to do last night, just like Earl Clark has done with Gasol (ex. the win against Boston, where he had 14/16).

 

With this particular team, there's no excuse for any of our three (Kobe, Nash, Howard) to not get double-digit points AND shoot efficiently (50% or better...guess we can drop that to around 47% for Kobe/Nash since they are guards, but you get the idea). None. If we do that, if we have a team built around Kobe and Howard (as our two superstars) with a contributing Steve Nash who KNOWS his role is to spread the floor and involve Howard/Gasol in P&R...Kobe knowing he has to get Nash his, Howard knowing he has to work with Nash and guys like Meeks, Jamison, Blake and Ron to spread the floor...that would create an offense that opens up the court for so many different ways of scoring (post, drive, perimeter shooting, P&R, P&P, foul line), we would be unstoppable.

 

All year, I've been waiting for our head coach to tell these guys what they need to do on the court. I get this hunch that he's wanting Kobe and Nash to do this. That's not their job, as players, because their egos (and Dwight's ego, as well as Gasol's) will not allow for it. When one has a bad game, everything is out the window...because this coach we have refuses to get behind ANYTHING, and only praises how we can win on talent alone.

 

Take that second half against the Hornets, put it up against the Heat, and we don't win...as impressive as it was...because Miami, San Antonio, Oklahoma City...these teams would not let a two-man duo beat them in that manner, with the third man contributing absolutely nothing and a fourth sitting in a suit on the sidelines.

 

So, let's point out Nash's inability to produce in that second half. Let's point out Howard going 1-7 against the Thunder in the first half, and not shooting once in the second half in that same game. Let's point out Kobe's 1-8 shooting, 4 points against the Suns. Let's talk about how bad Gasol has been in certain games this year. We are not a contender because we simply can't put it together, and play defined roles, without going away from each other and depending too much on raw talent and the primacy of our superstar, Kobe Bryant.

 

This team CAN get into the playoffs based on talent alone. We know this. What we also know is that we can't win it all that way, and something has to give.