Blog: Lakers Have Ingredients For Disaster
Rahshaun Haylock (CBS) --
When Mike Brown was hired as the Lakers head coach last summer, everyone knew he would have an impact on the way the Lakers played defensively. He's done that.
The team is 2nd in the league in field goal percentage defense. The major question was what would he do on the offensive end.
The answer so far: not much.
The Lakers are 21st in the league in scoring (92.3 ppg), 15th in field goal percentage (44.9%), and dead last in three point field goal percentage (25.6).
During this current season high three-game losing streak, the offense has been atrocious. They shot, 42%, 38.2%, and 41.9% from the field in the last three losses to Miami, Orlando, and Indiana respectively.
As they prepare to take on the Clippers on Wednesday, there have been some things that stick out that don't bode well for success.
Things that are a recipe for disaster for the Lakers:
KOBE LEADING THE LEAGUE IN SCORING
As great as Kobe Bryant is --without question, one of the best to lace up the sneakers-- him leading the league in scoring is not, nor has it ever been a good thing for the Lakers.
Kobe tops all NBA scores this season averaging 30.5 points per game. He averaged 35.4 points per game in 2005-2006. We all know how that ended. The Lakers squandered a 3-1 lead in the first round of the playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. The 2nd leading scorer on the team that season was Lamar Odom (14.8 ppg). Kobe's great. We all know he's great and when he's on, we all watch. Everybody,including his teammates.
When Kobe's scoring tons of points, his teammates have traditionally been detached from the game and sat back and enjoyed the show. He needed to score 35 per that year for the Lakers to be competitive as they manufactured a spot in the playoffs as a 7-seed. He led the league in scoring in 2006-07 and the result was another first round loss.
That time they were bounced in five games by the Suns. Kobe averaged 31.6 for the season. 3rd on the team in scoring that season was Luke Walton with 11.4 points per game. When the Lakers were going to three NBA Finals in three consecutive seasons, Kobe repeatedly went on record saying his scoring was a bonus.
And while I always felt it was stretch for him to call his scoring a "bonus" there were nights that certainly backed up what he was saying. For example, those nights when the he would score in the teens and the Lakers would win going away, or even Game 7 of the NBA Finals when he had one of the worst shooting nights of his career and his teammates picked him up.
KOBE NEAR THE TOP IN MINUTES
Kobe is in his 16th year in the Association, and while I won't dare call him old like some of you have, I will say that we're closer to his 20th year in the league than his rookie season if you get my drift.
He's currently 2nd in the league in total minutes played --686 or 38.2 minutes per game. So far this season, it has been out of pure necessity. The second unit hasn't done much of anything, especially since the injury to Steve Blake. Not only does Kobe have to spend more minutes on the court, he's having to extend himself while he's out there. In the Triangle Offense, he knew where his shots were coming from.
Now, he's still figuring that part out, which means he's working harder to get his shots than in previous years. I know that he's looked fresher this season than he did in arguably the previous two seasons but that doesn't mean he needs to play as much as he is currently. During the loss at Orlando last Friday, KCAL and Lakers.com reporter Mike Trudell reported during the game that Mike Brown asked Kobe if he needed a breather during a timeout. Kobe, of course, said no. Lesson learned here: you can't give Kobe that option.
Moreover, as meticulous as Brown is in terms of keeping track of minutes played during the game, one could only hope that there was a better plan in place when dealing with No. 24. In the end, unless players pick up the slack around the Lakers future hall of famer, Brown may not have a choice but to leave Kobe on the floor longer and longer.
To compound things, the Lakers are at the top of the league in games played this season. Brown's used a lot of game time as practice time with the limited time the team's had to practice this season.
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I've been saying it for years, if Kobe wanted to go out and average double digit assists throughout the course of a season, he most certainly could. This season, he's leading the Lakers in assist (5.6) --which isn't completely a bad thing.
The problem is in the Triangle Offense where you didn't need a traditional point guard, in Brown's system you do. The Lakers best scorer and best playmaker is the same person. Yes, you guessed it. Kobe. He's the only player on the team that can create his own shot, as well as create for others.
The lack of a dynamic point guard is ever present. While plenty of Lakers fans may be screaming for Dwight Howard to be Laker by season's end, a need for a point guard is a more pressing issue.
The Lakers haven't surpassed 100 points in 11 straight games. That's worth repeating. 11 straight games. This is an NBA team that features three of the top five players at their respective positions in the league.
Scoring should not be this hard, but when a lot of what you do on the offensive end is based on the penetration you get and you only have one guy that can penetrate consistently you're going to have problems.
Through 18 games, the result: 10-8.
