![]() And it's leaving me with so many questions. Th at is the biggest problem with Byron Scott's Lakers, though on paper the talent may be superior to last year. The MDA Lakers weren't good by any stretch of the imagination, but there's little doubt to me that they were all put in situations where they could best succeed, as the system best accentuated their strengths. Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports Meanwhile, multi-dimensional point guards like Farmar and Steve Blake were given the responsibilities to make decisions with the ball, including starting on-court offensive actions, as well as taking shots from deep themselves. Guys like Wesley Johnson weren't ready or equipped to make decisions with the ball, thus guys like Wesley Johnson were given roles as spot-up shooters and finishers on the run. so the team just didn't shoot mid-range jumpers. Overall, those Lakers were horrid mid-range shooters. It certainly couldn't have hurt a team that finished seventh in three-point percentage for the year and it's probably not a coincidence that the top five three-point shooters on the team finished at the top or near the top of their respective career lines in three-pointers made. The evidence? Pau Gasol is a very good passing big man out of the post. As limited as the team was in skillset, those limited skillsets at least complemented one another. Sure, the team was atrocious defensively, but they weren't the most atrocious. That's because the team was much better suited to play Mike D'Antoni's style - plenty of three-point shooters, athletes that could get up and down the floor and point guards who could execute top of the key pick-and-roll plays. Last year's team, as flawed as they were, played to an amazing ceiling, especially considering how prominent roles were for guys like Marshall, Johnson and Meeks. ![]() In comparing last year's team to this one, it isn't about the amount of talent, it's how that talent fits. That's like saying a meal in Mexico is better than a meal in Seattle because you shelled out more coins for it. But the point is, taking a player, or a group of players, and assigning overall value to them without looking at varying factors doesn't a fair contrast make. There are too many variables to consider - positional differentiation, offensive statistics, defensive metrics, teammates, minutes played, offense and defensive systems played in, usage rate. One can't simply say that Jerry West was a better player than Hakeem Olajuwan. It's never an apples to apples comparison when evaluating two players. It isn't about the amount of talent, it's how that talent fits.īut my credo when it comes to the NBA is that professional basketball isn't playing checkers - it's playing three dimensional chess. Moreover, even beyond just addressing the intangibles the Black Mamba brings to the table, comparing both teams side by side could arguably give the edge to the very Lake Show we see before us. How could a team with Kobe Bryant be worse than a team without Kobe Bryant? That just didn't make sense. When I wrote this year's Lakers aren't only worse than last year's, but were the worst of all-time, I got a tremendous amount of push back. However, some would say Young is a better player, as is hopefully Johnson with a summer full of off-season workouts with Kobe. Looking at the swingmen, Nick Young, Wesley Johnson and Xavier Henry all remain, leaving them at an even wash from last year. Please note that I did not mention Carlos Boozer. An unfortunately timed injury to Julius Randle could have definitively swayed the balance towards the '14-15 Lakers' frontcourt. While Pau Gasol is certainly missed, the defensive potential of Jordan Hill, Ed Davis and Robert Sacre could definitely equate in talent and overall value to Hill, Sacre, the Spaniard and Chris Kaman. Kobe Bryant, Jeremy Lin, Jordan Clarkson and Ronnie Price might very well be an upgrade over last year's core of Jordan Farmar, Jodie Meeks, Kent Bazemore, Kendall Marshall and just over a dozen games from Steve Nash, simply on the merit of Bean making his return. Looking at this year's edition of the Los Angeles Lakers, you could have made an argument-easily, some would say-that the '13-14 team is packed with just as much, or more talent than last season's.
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