>they're sixth in offense. 21st in defense. you tell me what
>the priority is.

i never said defense was not an issue. however, if you want to ignore their offensive issues, then you are being willfully obtuse as well.

>considering their rankings and point differential--which is
>about the same as golden state and the hawks--the lakers
>should be 19-13 by basketball-reference's methodology. the
>fact of the matter is that they're a decent team who has
>suffered injuries and plays in a tough conference. i don't
>know if they can recover to make the playoffs or not, but all
>this barking about pau on offense is missing the point.

why dont you watch the portland game and compare it to the one last night. how many horns sets did you see last night compared to the portland game? and don't tell me thats because of the clippers defense.

there is a way to run the offense so that it caters to the teams strengths. spreading the floor and passing the ball around the perimeter until dwight gets a good post opp is not good offense. good offense also leads to good defense.

a good coach will find ways to put his players in a position to succeed. the lakers are a dangerous team when pau, kobe, dwight and nash are playing to their strengths. dantoni has not found a consistent way to do this and thats on him.

>lakers offense rating last night--against one of the best
>defensive teams in the NBA--was over 111. for a season, that
>would be third in the whole league behind OKC and the knicks.
>again, offense is not the problem, and anyone harping on it is
>being willfully obtuse.

kobe is the main reason the offense still produces great stats. being overly reliant on kobe, at this stage in his career, is not going to win you games consistently against a good teams.