Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - Are the Warriors for real?
A RealDeal appearance :mark:
RealDeal, what do you think about the rumors of Kobe and Dwight not getting along?
Hard to say it's true, for a couple of reasons:
1) It came from the NY Daily, I believe...and that's really the only source reporting it.
2) We didn't hear anything about the conflict that supposedly happened days ago...and that's keeping in mind that it's Los Angeles, and Twitter is usually always on top of things.
Dwight did mention something about sharing the ball, but I get this hunch that he's talking more about Ron Artest. It's going under the radar, but Ron is taking 11 shots a night, shooting under 42%. He's shooting more than Dwight.
Why is that? D'Antoni's offense.
Even if Dwight was speaking about Kobe, that's idiotic. Bryant's shot attempts are close to matching what he was doing back when he won four of his five rings, but at an even higher percentage (career high). In addition to that, Dwight knows he'll take more foul shots with more touches.
Netting one point (shooting 50% from the line)...is actually the same as Kobe's two point buckets at 48%. Both take two possessions to get two points...Dwight with 2/4 free throws, Kobe shooting 1/2 jumpers.
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1) Start Jordan Hill.
2) Trade Gasol for a defensive-minded player, or a decent offensive threat that can at least play defense better than 50% of the league.
3) Sign Delonte West after waiving one or two of our young players.
4) Since we basically have to keep D'Antoni, ask Kurt Rambis if he'll come in and help with our defensive woes.
5) Change the offense, slow the game down. Play combos of the "four out, one in" for Dwight, while installing triangle properties for Kobe. P&R mixed in for our bigs + Nash. Tell Nash to play off the ball more, instead of becoming useless every now and then.
Meanwhile, D'Antoni needs to sit the players down in the locker room, grab a marker, and write down projected minutes for every player, and also, set rotations for particular situations.
Stop shooting threes. Stop giving Ron Artest 10+ shots in a game. Force the penetrating guard to the baseline, not the paint. Come up and defend your man on the screen, no switches and no giving up open jumpers...you have a defensive anchor, so use him.
Also, if we're dealing Gasol (or if he's going to spend his time outside of the block, no matter what), then post Kobe up on the opposite side of Howard. Dwight doesn't have to have his back to the basket to be effective, so if a bit of room is needed, it's fine.
Like I said, this team is old. They need to play like they are...not necessarily regarding effectiveness, but pace and strategy-wise.