OT: Does Mike Brown know how to make Nash and Kobe work?

[JCSunsfan]

http://hoopshype.com/columns/rosen/l.a.-bound-for-disappointment

Princeton offense for Steve Nash? Isn't this the offense that is famous for having no point guard position at all? You get Steve Nash and then immediately implement an offense that does not put the ball in a pg's hands.

Gotta believe it will stifle his creativity and make Kobe frustrated.

 

[Bodha]

They will run the coaches O in practice,and Kobes O in game. Col. Sanders never coached anyone to a championship. He had Jordan and a team of superstars. And Kobe and a team of superstars.


When the lights come on, the players on the court (Nash) will decide what the O is.

 

[Hat]

He's a bad coach and am really surprised the Lakers picked him to succeed Phil. Nash will suck in whatever offense he picks. The guy just needs to coach defense, leave the O up to Nash.

 

[Phrazbit]

I hope not. But I think Nash is good enough to coach that offense on the court no matter how dumb Brown is.

 

[elindholm]

I really wouldn't worry about an offense that begins with Nash, Bryant, Howard, and Gasol scoring enough points.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

They will run the coaches O in practice,and Kobes O in game. Col. Sanders never coached anyone to a championship. He had Jordan and a team of superstars. And Kobe and a team of superstars.


When the lights come on, the players on the court (Nash) will decide what the O is.

Just because the superstar is the centerpiece of an offense doesn't mean he is running his own offense. Part of the reason Phil Jackson's teams were so successful was because of the triangle offense.

 

[JCSunsfan]

My expectation is that Kobe will resist Nash at first. But once Nash starts running the O and Kobe receives the ball in places where he can score with ease, he will start to really like it. If Nash were a little younger, he could really extend Kobe's career. Nash is just too old to make a difference for 3 or 4 years.

 

[slinslin]

My expectation is that Kobe's inflated ego will get in the way of the Lakers success.

Kobe is not that good of a player anymore and the Lakers will be best if they heavily rely on Nash handling the ball and pick and rolls with Howard and Gasol all day. That will not please Kobe and from everything I have seen Kobe absolutely sucks as a spot up shooter. He is pretty good with players in his face but when spotting up or left open in catch and shoot situations he is not good.

Look how bad Kobe looks on team USA when he is basically a role player who can't dominate the ball.

 

[Rivercard]

Nash is just too old to make a difference for 3 or 4 years.

The names on the back of the starter's jersey look very impressive, but let's look at the Lakers......

- 2 stars at the end of their careers, one of which is almost 40 YO
- They traded a center who can score and make free throws for a guy with a history of injuries
- They will be starting a streaky and violent knuclehead ironically named Peace
- The bench appears below average for the NBA. The lakers did not address their lack of depth in the offseason

The starters better be able to stay on the court. Should be interesting.

 

[Bodha]

Just because the superstar is the centerpiece of an offense doesn't mean he is running his own offense. Part of the reason Phil Jackson's teams were so successful was because of the triangle offense.

He established the triangle O as their O, and it worked very well, so they stuck with it. But he wasnt actively coaching his superstars. Once the triangle was set in place, the players were on auto pilot.


If whatever O, this "Princeton" offense, works, then the players will master it and take over. If it doesnt, the players will revert ot what they know best. Kobe might force them to go back to the triangle.

That coach has no control. The second they lose a few game and Kobe criticizes him, hes out.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

He established the triangle O as their O, and it worked very well, so they stuck with it. But he wasnt actively coaching his superstars. Once the triangle was set in place, the players were on auto pilot.


If whatever O, this "Princeton" offense, works, then the players will master it and take over. If it doesnt, the players will revert ot what they know best. Kobe might force them to go back to the triangle.

That coach has no control. The second they lose a few game and Kobe criticizes him, hes out.

I could agree that they might run their own offense with Brown, but my point was only that it wouldn't be that way with Phil Jackson largely because his offense is very effective.

 

[sunsfan88]

That will not please Kobe and from everything I have seen Kobe absolutely sucks as a spot up shooter. He is pretty good with players in his face but when spotting up or left open in catch and shoot situations he is not good.

Please stop posting....please?

 

[slinslin]

Please stop posting....please?

If you think that Kobe is a good catch and shoot type player you need to get your head examined.

 

[sunsfan88]

If you think that Kobe is a good catch and shoot type player you need to get your head examined.

To say that Kobe "absolutely sucks" as a spot up shooter or catch and shoot player is completely ignorant.

He's one of the best shooters in the NBA and as much as I hate him, he can score from anywhere and anyway he wants.

Is he as good now at age 33? Probably not, but still doesn't "absolutely suck".

 

[Phrazbit]

To say that Kobe "absolutely sucks" as a spot up shooter or catch and shoot player is completely ignorant.

He's one of the best shooters in the NBA and as much as I hate him, he can score from anywhere and anyway he wants.

Is he as good now at age 33? Probably not, but still doesn't "absolutely suck".

Everybody's game has flaws. One of Kobe's is that he does not catch and shoot, he does not play off the ball. I dont think the Lakers will struggle on offense, but if Kobe could play a role like Ray Allen used to then they would be unstoppable. However, if Kobe is capable of playing that style he has never shown it.

 

[slinslin]

He's one of the best shooters in the NBA and as much as I hate him, he can score from anywhere and anyway he wants.

Kobe is not one of the best shooters in the NBA, seriously.

2012 - 30.3% 3s - 41% 16-23ft - 42% 10-15FT
2011 - 32.3% 3s - 38% 16-23ft - 51.5% 10-15FT
2010 - 32.9% 3s - 41% 16-23ft - 49.7% 10-15FT

Volume scorer? Yes he is good, but he is not an efficient shooter.

Star point guards and ball-dominant shooting guards rarely go together well see Kidd/Penny and other examples. Both players need the ball in their hands to be effective and as a result both underperform.

Basically you want one player to be a playmaker and the other to be a great shooter. Of course it does not hurt if both are playmakers and great shooters/off ball players. Now yes the Lakers could use Nash primarily as a shooter and Kobe could have the ball in his hands but the difference between Nash as a playmaker and Kobe is gigantic. In order to maximize the talents of Gasol and Howard, Nash should have the ball in his hands most of the time.

 

[BC867]

Basically you want one player to be a playmaker and the other to be a great shooter. Of course it does not hurt if both are playmakers and great shooters/off ball players. Now yes the Lakers could use Nash primarily as a shooter and Kobe could have the ball in his hands but the difference between Nash as a playmaker and Kobe is gigantic. In order to maximize the talents of Gasol and Howard, Nash should have the ball in his hands most of the time.

I am wondering how the pairing of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash compares to that of Michael Jordan and John Paxon, then Steve Kerr.

Kobe and Michael, both Shooting Guards who need to be in the middle of the offense once the ball is in the front court, playing alongside smaller pure (and 3-point) shooters.

The only difference is that Nash is a pure Point Guard whereas Paxon and Kerr were not. Of course, there was talk of using Nash at Shooting Guard even while he was here, to keep him from wearing down as the season progressed.

What do you think?

 

[sunsfan88]

Everybody's game has flaws. One of Kobe's is that he does not catch and shoot, he does not play off the ball. I dont think the Lakers will struggle on offense, but if Kobe could play a role like Ray Allen used to then they would be unstoppable. However, if Kobe is capable of playing that style he has never shown it.

Kobe's never had that opportunity to play off ball or be a catch and shoot player though.

The Lakers have always needed him to have the ball in his hands and go to work. He's been their only perimeter player who can create his own shot and the only legit offensive threat.

 

[Phrazbit]

Kobe's never had that opportunity to play off ball or be a catch and shoot player though.

The Lakers have always needed him to have the ball in his hands and go to work. He's been their only perimeter player who can create his own shot and the only legit offensive threat.

That is utterly false... Kobe is a ball hog who forces the offense to run through himself. Gasol and Bynum are both elite offensive threats. The Lakers should have been running their offense from the inside and working it out for several years now, but they dont, because Kobe sucks at playing off the ball and is a bad spot up shooter.

 

[D-Dogg]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/47333/why-kobe-and-nash-will-make-a-great-duo

Of the 337 players with at least 15 unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers last season, nobody was left open less often than Kobe. Only 35.2 percent of his catch-and-shoot jumpers were unguarded.

When Kobe was left open, he shot 51.3 percent, which ranked 11th of the 113 players with at least 75 unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers last season.

The end. Stop whining.

 

[sunsfan88]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/47333/why-kobe-and-nash-will-make-a-great-duo



The end. Stop whining.

Thank you.

Slinslin and Phrazbit...you both read that ^^ right?

Jeez, I can't believe I had to actually defend Kobe for once in my life....now I can go back to hating him

 

[Phrazbit]

Thank you.

Slinslin and Phrazbit...you both read that ^^ right?

Jeez, I can't believe I had to actually defend Kobe for once in my life....now I can go back to hating him

Being left open because teams collapse and double your big men is different than Kobe learning how to play off the ball... which is what I was talking about and something that Kobe has not done much of in his career.

And I dont think that anyone is arguing that the Lakers wouldnt be better with Nash running their offense, I question if Kobe will let Nash run it, especially late in games where Kobe has consistently gone away from any sort of offensive system besides his low efficiency iso game.

 

[Magnus]

Well, they are terrible in the preseason so far. 0-7.

 

[SirStefan32]

Being left open because teams collapse and double your big men is different than Kobe learning how to play off the ball... which is what I was talking about and something that Kobe has not done much of in his career.

And I dont think that anyone is arguing that the Lakers wouldnt be better with Nash running their offense, I question if Kobe will let Nash run it, especially late in games where Kobe has consistently gone away from any sort of offensive system besides his low efficiency iso game.

They will do fine. You let Nash run the show for a while, then you go to Kobe and make Nash a spot-up shooter. When Kobe goes to the bench, you run Nash/ Gasol pick and roll every time down the floor.

 

[mojorizen7]

They will do fine. You let Nash run the show for a while, then you go to Kobe and make Nash a spot-up shooter. When Kobe goes to the bench, you run Nash/ Gasol pick and roll every time down the floor.

Rocket science it isn't

I cannot think of a current NBA backcourt that would be more difficult to defend than Nash/Kobe. Throw in a frontcourt that can guard the rim and its quite ridiculous.

Luckily the Suns won't be good enough in the next couple seasons to have to lose sleep over it in a meaningful playoff series.

My hope is that Phx arrives at right about the time that Nash/Kobe is put out to pasture.