I'm no Laker fan but I've seen the two Laker games so far (thanks to Verizon coming up with a deal with TWC to double my local basketball), and I don't think their offense has looked THAT inefficient over their two games. I mean, they've shot a good percentage from the field, even if it's a bit plodding and herky jerky to watch right now. Nash will eventually figure out at what points he can push it and do this thing. They turned it over too much against POR and couldn't hit a free throw against DAL but that should work itself out (though Howard will cost you a game or two at the line barring Chuck Person working a miracle with him).

But the defensive effort is pretty baffling to me. I mean, you got Howard to protect the rim with your old perimeter players, right? He turned Orlando into a good defensive team and he was the only guy who could defend a lick there. But watching the Lakers defend the half-court, they'll let penetration and Howard is in no position to contest the shot. They'll hedge their bigs and not recover so a guard gets a layup. Or Howard will step up to penetration and the guard gets an easy dish. Even if Gasol, Kobe, and World War aren't at their physical primes, they should still have pretty high bball IQs, you'd think they'd be smart enough to rotate quickly.

It doesn't help they don't have a single guard on their roster who can provide decent ball pressure, the opposing teams can pretty much walk into any set they want without disruption.