Over the past three full NBA seasons, the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference has averaged 48 wins. The Lakers, now 9-14 following Thursday’s 116-107 fraternity-style paddling at the hands of the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, would have to go 39-20 to get there. That’s a .661 winning percentage, the equivalent of a 54-win pace over a full season. Doable — at least in theory — for the roster assembled in the offseason, except nobody has any real idea of when that team will actually take the court, and the current group has shown nothing but the ability to lose to any team on any night. Sure, the Lakers made a late push against the Knicks, just as they did last week in Oklahoma City. But spotting teams huge leads and hoping they get bored (or that the star player turns an ankle) before staging a comeback isn’t exactly sound strategy. ”

That’s from ESPN LA’s Rapid Reaction.

I would imagine that Gasol and Nash’s respective returns would help greatly in that process, but we literally have no idea when Steve Nash is getting back. We do know that they no viable option to run the point without Nash and this problem becomes exacerbated when Steve “$4m/year” Blake is injured. Darius Morris, as much as it pains me to say of a fellow Wolverine, is not the solution. Then again they could go get Bibby, he apparently is working out and on the look out for a job…

Have to disagree big time. Always felt that a significant reason his Suns teams were middling defensively was because they lured opponents into bad transition shots that many weren’t great. Many teams eschewed the half-court offense where you could almost always get anything you wanted because of the misperception that you had to score fast, ending up with a lot of average shooters taking bad shot. I spent about half the year going between Phoenix in Denver during those years, watched ost of their games.

Their playoff defensive efficiency is far more telling to me. They consistently yielded much greater offensive games than their opponents averaged in the regular season.

I also think Amar’e's negative defensive habits have everything to do with a lack of coaching over a long period of time.

BigBlueAL:
Melo says his left knee and ankle is sore, not sure if he plays on Saturday.He should definitely not play on Saturday since its against Cleveland.Rest up.

I actually think Melo being out Saturday is a really good thing. This tam needs to get back to playing possession-possession defense.

No one to bail them out on offense after they don’t pursue the ball or fall asleep on the weakside on consecutive defensive possessions.

Brewer is starting to play a little better. So long as he and Shump are right in May…

massive:
Two things:

I believe Carmelo Anthony is the best half court offensive basketball player in the NBA outside of this year’s Kobe Bryant. LeBron and Durant are more efficient, but I believe we can attribute that to their ability to play fast-break basketball. Neither of those two guys are as difficult to stop in the half-court as Carmelo Anthony (well, maybe Durant is better). I wish I could see some efficiency statistics based on this.

Raymond Felton is a lot worse than I remember. We need Amar’e back, because I feel a hell of a lot more confident with him taking shots away from Felton.

Raymond is essential to the offense– the engine at times

When MDA tried to switch screens (as teams always used to do against Nash/Amar’e) Felton made them pay.

Howard is a garbage pick and roll player, and you’d never see guys like Chandler and Garnett get torched time after time in every pnr scenario. So much more to being a great defensive player than rebounds and blocked shots.

massive:
Two things:

I believe Carmelo Anthony is the best half court offensive basketball player in the NBA outside of this year’s Kobe Bryant. LeBron and Durant are more efficient, but I believe we can attribute that to their ability to play fast-break basketball. Neither of those two guys are as difficult to stop in the half-court as Carmelo Anthony (well, maybe Durant is better). I wish I could see some efficiency statistics based on this.

Raymond Felton is a lot worse than I remember. We need Amar’e back, because I feel a hell of a lot more confident with him taking shots away from Felton.

Wouldn’t be that hard to do with Synergy and 82games.com.

People will be shocked at what Amar’e does when he returns, both with Melo/Chandler and working with Prigs and junior.

Kerr is wrong when he talks about spacing. Teams help off Ronnie Brewer all the time. The kinds of things Amar’e can do attacking from the weakside that Brewer could never dream of will make this offense ridiculous.

Anyone with a Synergy account please watch how Amar’e played off the weaksde on the high/middle pnr with Robin Lopez. He feasted.

Plus you’ve got 48 minutes of the best pick and roll in the game.

This could one of the most efficient half-court offenses of all-time.

I believe Carmelo Anthony is the best half court offensive basketball player in the NBA outside of this year’s Kobe Bryant. LeBron and Durant are more efficient, but I believe we can attribute that to their ability to play fast-break basketball. Neither of those two guys are as difficult to stop in the half-court as Carmelo Anthony (well, maybe Durant is better). I wish I could see some efficiency statistics based on this.

Raymond Felton is a lot worse than I remember. We need Amar’e back, because I feel a hell of a lot more confident with him taking shots away from Felton.

yellowboy90:
The SportsCenter Highlights with the NBA Jam fireball when Melo is shooting is crazy.

“I’ve used a lot of Mike’s offense, but I’ve also taken his offense and tried to expand it and do some things that I like to run, like double pick-and-rolls and triples and misdirection plays and things of that nature. Those are things I’ve examined from his offense and I’ve tried to expand a little bit. I like everything about Mike’s offense. I really do.”