Put the D in D'Antoni

Last two games: 231 points surrendered
76 points in the 2nd Quarters

We need some changes. Short of knee capping the top scorer from each team, what do we need to do to turn this ship around?

Stop playing old men

it's simply a matter of focus on defense.

dantoni is fooling these guys into thinking we can score our way into wins. i don't know what nba he's been watching the last 10 years, but teams that win get stops when it matters. this team isn't focused on that.

can't we just hire rambis or somethingggg

Rotate
Box out
Energy
Communication
Stop roaming (Kobe) / Leaving wide open shooters
Discipline
Hustle

We literally do none of that. You can have the best defensive coach/scheme in the world, but if the players aren't doing the things above, any defense is going to look like s***.

Those are simple aspects of the game. You have to EXPECT guys on this level to do those things, without much coaching intervention.

What was said in that late huddle was very telling.. Talking about making sure to sprint down on offense & try to get to the line quick.. I bet the word stops wasn't even mentioned.

I don't blame MDA for the poor defense. A lot of defense is about effort because when you let a 3-9 road team come into your building and completely shred your defense you have to literally NOT try.

Something needs to spark them on that end, apparently Dwight Howard isn't enough. Have they given up on the season already?

get a coach who cares a lick about defense.

what happen to Dwight ? I thought any team with Dwight would automatically put the team into top 5 in defense ?

instead of putting the D in D'Antoni, the lakers are getting the D in their A by every single team

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten
D'Antoni: "We have too many guys that will take a possession off"
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This goes with my point above. One person takes a possession off and screws everyone else up.

noobiew wrote:what happen to Dwight ? I thought any team with Dwight would automatically put the team into top 5 in defense ?

Yeah. It's weird... outside of 2011 where he wasn't trying on D, all Orlando teams were elite in defensive efficiency. Don't know what happened here.

Doc Brown wrote:

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten
D'Antoni: "We have too many guys that will take a possession off"
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This goes with my point above. One person takes a possession off and screws everyone else up.

He won't say it but he's talking mostly about Kobe. His poor defense is cancerous to the team.

Kobe's constant whining after not getting a call and not getting back on D is a huge factor. His gambling is a huge factor. Kobe has played the worst defense in his career and his leadership has been (bleep).

Armani wrote:

noobiew wrote:what happen to Dwight ? I thought any team with Dwight would automatically put the team into top 5 in defense ?

Yeah. It's weird... outside of 2011 where he wasn't trying on D, all Orlando teams were elite in defensive efficiency. Don't know what happened here.

Dwight is not close to what he has been in the past. Back surgery + 6 months of no basketball would do that to you.

Also, the bigs are the most important defensive pieces to your team, but even prime KG anchored average to below average defensive teams.

Kobe and Ron combined for 0 rebounds...WTF man

We need an identity. If we were a defensive minded team, then I think you can look at the defense independently of the offense. But that's not who we are.

We're an offensive minded team that has absolutely no identity and as a result, we play disjointed, with no flow. This spills over in to the defensive end. You guys all heard it from the players themselves that it is a lack of energy.

Once we figure out WHO we are and HOW we are going to play our game, then the defense will take care of itself.

I really think the biggest missing piece, outside of Nash, is an on-court and locker room leader. The team is showing almost zero chemistry on both ends of the floor, no camaraderie, no sense of togetherness. For our winning seasons, that guy has always been Derek Fisher and with him gone, we just don't have that unifying leader.

We should hire Shaw.

thkthebest wrote:

Armani wrote:

noobiew wrote:what happen to Dwight ? I thought any team with Dwight would automatically put the team into top 5 in defense ?

Yeah. It's weird... outside of 2011 where he wasn't trying on D, all Orlando teams were elite in defensive efficiency. Don't know what happened here.

Dwight is not close to what he has been in the past. Back surgery + 6 months of no basketball would do that to you.

Also, the bigs are the most important defensive pieces to your team, but even prime KG anchored average to below average defensive teams.

Ugh. Is it time to call Dwight not 100% again? I hate it how he is close to being back when we win and clearly not 100% when we lose!

Not saying you do this, it's just a common theme it seems)

Lol. I know what you mean, but Dwight clearly isn't close to 100%. He's made some big improvements since his first game as a Laker, but he's still got a ways to go. I think he said he'd be close to 100% in January or something, but we'll see about that.

We actually probably won't see Dwight at his full potential until next season since a lot of what you do in the NBA is a result of the work you put in the offseason.

Dantoni needs to tell his team what they need to do. Talk to Kobe. Tell him he needs to play intense D and be a leader that the team should follow. No one wants to follow Kobe when hes not playing D and just chucking up shots or driving to the rim and not getting calls and complaining instead of getting back.

wcsoldier81 wrote:The fast pace sure doesn't help but the D problems are going WAY beyond Antoni

they are just too old to run and gun...

The team needs to bring effort and energy on D. BUT since we have Dantoni its offense first...SO i say that Kobe needs to stop this 30+ on 20+ shots chucking mode and play like he was earlier in the season. shooting much less but still putting up 24-25ppg and efficiently.

He needs to play facilitator more and get dwight looks while moving. not this post up and stand around thing hes doing with dwight. its terrible and inefficient. i want him to run pnr with dwight. PNR!

24ppg shooting high 40's-50% and having 6assists is what this team needs from him without Nash. Duhon is giving us double digit assists and kobe needs to give some and find dwight for baskets that are NOT back to basket shots. Also focusing more on facilitating as well as D will enable this team to follow his lead and do what is needed to win. kobe chuck mode at high 30% isnt gunna cut it. were 1-9 with kobe having 30+ which means more than just kobe scoring. it means less ball movement. it means kobe spending all energy on O than on D. it means dwight isnt getting the touches WHILE MOVING that he needs and is instead back to basket stuff that ends badly and then the opponents run and score on us

This team wasnt much better defensively under MB, whos supposedly a defensive specialist.

If Dwight can take a team of Nelson, VC, and Shard Lewis to a top 10 defensive team, then im pretty sure we can play defense too. The problem is they refuse to focus and give effort on the defensive end, and that has always been the problem no matter which coach we had. Unfortunately it doesnt seem like Dantoni is the type of coach who will get irate for defensive lapses.