![]() He forces mismatches in the defense when the big man has to come over to help. He has no interest in standing around the perimeter like Kendall Marshall and passing the ball. He attacks the rim as if the rim just killed his best friend. Jordan Clarkson’s strength is driving to the rim as well. The (Lakers) +/- was better when Kendall Marshall was off the floor while the (Rockets) +/- was better when Jeremy Lin was on the floor. Marshall is an old fashioned, throw back point guard that has trouble with the speed of his contemporaries. Marshall is better at getting players the ball from the perimeter. Furthermore, in this era of the scoring point guard it is a requirement that the point guard get into the paint and do damage. Kendall Marshall has never scored 25 points in his career. In his brief career he has scored 25+ points or more 11 times, 30+ points or more 4 times. This past season he was second to Lebron James in field goal makes 0-3 feet (63%). Lin was the first NBA player to score 20 points and have 7 assists in his first five NBA starts. Point Guard: Jeremy Lin is an upgrade over Kendall Marshall. Even though the roster is still incomplete it is better than last year’s disaster. They re-signed Jordan Hill and Nick Young. ![]() Team building in this era takes time and a lot of turnover.Īnd so with that as a backdrop the Lakers are trying to build a contender in steps that is their plan. The Lakers can no longer just go out and get whoever they want like they did in decades past. If you are in a large market, if you profit $100 million like the Lakers did last year, the road is even tougher. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which was not punitive in the early Kobe years is punishing now. The expectation that the Lakers of 2013-14 could build a contender in one year after a 27-55 season is particularly ridiculous. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports Minneapolis, MN, USA Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin (7) shoots at Target Center. The only players remaining from his first year were Shaquille O’Neal, Derek Fisher and Robert Horry. But by the time Kobe poured the champagne in June 2000 he had 33 different teammates. ![]() In Phil Jackson’s first year the Lakers got rid of 7 players and added 6 including Brian Shaw, Devean George and Ron Harper. The Lakers lost in the Western Conference Semi-Finals to the Spurs they were swept. Their coach (Del Harris) was fired and Kurt Rambis took over. In the 1998-99 season the Lakers added 7 players including Dennis Rodman, Tyronn Lue and Glenn Rice. They got rid of Nick Van Exel, Byron Scott and three others. They lost again to the Utah Jazz, this time in the Western Conference Finals. The next year they added four new players including Rick Fox. They lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Utah Jazz and purged 5 players from their roster (Cedric Ceballos, Jerome Kersey, Joe Klein, George McCloud, Rumeal Robinson). In Kobe’s rookie year the Lakers won 56 games. It is less about getting superstars year after year and more about roster turnover before assembling a contending team.Įighteen years ago this month the Lakers signed Kobe Bryant to his first professional contract. The Lakers go after a max player and are summarily rejected. Dwight Howard last year, Carmelo Anthony this year and the pattern seems to be the same. It was always going to be a grueling uphill climb to land a free agent. Other teams got better and frankly many players were raised adoring other franchises. The world had expanded in the 30+ years since Dr. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports Los Angeles needs them Orlando, FL, USA Los Angeles Lakers small forward Nick Young (0) shoots a free throw against the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Amway Center. The best players in the world don’t need Los Angeles. Quietly, the Lakers are still a dominant, glamorous franchise people want to watch and whose jerseys are the fifth best seller even when they are not in the playoffs But the sobering part- what Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss understood when they paid Kobe- was the Lakers are no longer the cream of the crop. It just took longer to see the faded pieces of championship gold. You could still find the roots of the Lakers historical success even if it was buried somewhere beneath the rubble. So had the Lakers invincibility aura. So in a sense one bridge had been ruined and another bridge had been built. When the Lakers handed over a promissory note of $48 million dollars to an unhealed Kobe Bryant they did it with a sense of geography. The NBA world had changed. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |