Carmelo and D'Antoni couldn't co-exist in New York, why would his relationship with Kobe be any different? |
Anyone else scratching their heads right now? Anyone else wake up this morning, log onto ESPN.com and say what? I sure as hell did when I learned of Mike Brown's replacement out in Los Angeles. Mike D'Antoni? Really? I think it's pretty clear the offensive genius hasn't exactly proved his worth as a basketball genius.
Only three days ago the Los Angeles Lakers were headed by a defensive-minded coach, who knew very little about how things work on the offensive end. He attempted to install the mind-numbingly boring Princeton offense with the still exciting Steve Nash at the helm. We're not even sure why he was there in the first place with rumblings that GM Mitch Kupchak was overruled by Jim Buss in the hiring process two offseasons ago. Let's just say that the year and five games that Brown was on the bench for a complete waste.
Yet then the Lakers decided to pull a 180 and sign an exclusively offensive coach who thinks if you score 130 you'll win every game, no matter your matador D. Were they too interested in D'Antoni's sensational relationship with Steve Nash, whom he helped to win two MVPs in their stints in Phoenix? Did Phil Jackson's relationship with Jeanie Buss sour things in the hiring process? Was Jackson actually not interested? If he was in fact interested, and those rumors were indeed correct, then the Lakers have made a grave mistake.
It has become increasingly clear over the years that D'Antoni isn't a championship-calibur coach. I'm not saying that he isn't a good coach nor does he have the ability to coach a team deep into the playoffs, but when his teams have been in the thick of it, they've have crumbled. After turning the Suns into an offensive juggernaut that consistently won more than 50 games every year it looked as if D'Antoni had perfected his offensive assault and that he was knocking on championship glory. Yet, his Suns team never ever recovered from the five-game thrashing they took from the Spurs in the 2006 Western Conference Finals. Too often in the following playoff series the Suns wilted under the pressure, unable to get key stops in the fourth quarter of games. D'Antoni left Phoenix after the '08 season and had to deal with two terrible Knicks teams before the acquisition of one of his formers players, Amar'e Stoudemire; the rest is history. Last season he was basically pushed out of New York by an unhappy Carmelo Anthony who rightly believed that D'Antoni's offense wasn't get him or the Knicks anywhere in the playoffs.
So how exactly is D'Antoni supposed to quell the problems out in Los Angeles? Well for starters, Nash should re-assume his role as one of the league's most electric point guards, but aside from that how is this team going to be effective? I think we've completely lost Dwight Howard as an offensive player, though if he can at least complete a pick-and-roll then maybe D'Antoni can find a way to make him serviceable on that end. Another facet of D'Antoni's system is three-point shooting. Is there anyone on this team other than Ron Artest and Kobe that can hit the three at, at least a 30-percent click? Not so sure. And how does Pau Gasol fit in? I thought this was going to be a big for Pau with the elbow 18-footer, but I'm not so sure how that's going to work in a fast-moving, three-point oriented offense.
However, my biggest concern lies with arguably the Lakers greatest player of all-time. We saw how Carmelo and D'Antoni clashed in New York and Kobe's attitude, at times, is certainly a question mark like 'Melo's is. Will Kobe bow down to D'Antoni's offense that turns great perimeter scorers into just another scorer? His offense is so successful because shooters are always open and never have to create their own shot. That's where he'll want Nash to have the ball almost 100% of the time on offense. Will he be able to get Kobe the sort of touches that he wants? Will Kobe accept a catch-and-shoot role? I say absolutely not. Bryant wants the ball. He's an off-the-dribble shooting wizard and this offense clashes with that style.
In the end, the Lakers will be electric and an absolute joy to watch. They'll contend deep into the playoffs, but I just don't see them upending the Thunder or Nuggets with the lack of defense they'll play. Dwight Howard, Ron Artest and Kobe can only do so much on the defensive end. And with guards like Chris Paul, Ty Lawson and Russell Westbrook being guarded by Steve Nash a trip to the Finals will be a tough goal to achieve.
Remember folks, defense wins championships.
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