2103522, kobe's defense is weird. Posted by Guinness, Sat Jan-05-13 02:45 AM
he's okay on the ball and plays passing lanes really well -- but he's prone to lapses, whether in judgement or effort. i thought he mostly played great tonight, and even made a bunch of unnecessarily difficult shots.
the MVPau issue is one of the lakers' bigger problems. he's struggled since he's moved away from the basket, both from the emergence of bynum and now with dwight. he's also being forced to guard quicker players and is much more of an interior presence than a perimeter threat (despite being a great passer). on one hand, i understand the criticism of d'antoni here, but at the same time, jordan hill is having success as a high-energy dude with more mobility and athleticism. pau would probably be better served playing center at this stage.
whatever the case, he's still too good to be getting 27 minutes and six FG attempts, assuming his knees aren't fully turned to mutton from tendonitis.
also, the clips are just better than the lakers, there's no need to go scorched earth to find culprits after a relatively close loss to one of the best teams in the nba. my main thought is that it took the heat--a team with guys in their prime--most of their first season to gets things clicking. not sure if it will happen for the lakers, but i'd caution against overreaction (except the west is so freaking tough they have to get it together really soon to make the postseason).
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