Los Angeles Lakers: Offense, Not Defense, Still the Problem

With each game the Los Angeles Lakers are looking more and more like a modern-day version of Hans Christian Andersen’s short story The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Much like the two weavers who promised the emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid or incompetent, Mike Brown continues to tell Laker fans that the team's difficulties, especially on the road, are caused by poor defense.

While knowledgeable Laker fans, much like the emperor’s subjects when he paraded in his new clothes, are not fooled. In the story a child cries out, "But he isn't wearing anything at all!" Many Laker fans are saying similar things about Brown’s offense: "He doesn’t have an offense at all!"

In both stories, the emperor’s new clothes and the Lakers’ offense are invisible.

Watching this team open with multiple turnovers that lead to fast-break opportunities for opposing teams, watching turnovers caused by double-teams at the sideline, and watching Andrew Bynum freeze when double-teamed are vivid examples of the Lakers’ naked offense.

I don’t know how many times Laker broadcasters have to say Bynum needs to learn how to pass out of double-teams before Bynum hears them. This is where Bynum’s lack of college experience shows dramatically.

However, it is the starters who are guilty of making one pass and standing around and watching Pau Gasol, Bynum or Kobe Bryant play one-on-one basketball. One pass, followed by one-and-one basketball, is not a recognized NBA offense. Rather, this kind of offense play is the subject of scorn and derision around the league and fans because it is the antithesis of team offense.

This scenario is also caused by Metta World Peace’s deficiencies on offense and the sudden demise of Steve Blake’s jump shot. Whatever value Blake had to the team left with his jump shot.

The Lakers’ bench, which floundered in the first half of the season, is benefiting from the presence of Ramon Sessions, using his penetration to move the ball more fluidly around the court. And Sessions’ presence has also stopped teams from double-teaming the post and from playing a zone defense against the Lakers as many have successfully done this season.

When Sessions is on the court with the starters, they routinely pass the ball to Kobe to start the offense, ignoring Sessions. Old habits and poor offensive coaching die hard.

The prime reason for Kobe’s shooting slump in recent games was demonstrated in the Mavs game when Kobe began running off screens to get his shots as opposed to facing up on his defender and playing one-on-one basketball.

Kobe acknowledged this after the Mavs game when he talked about how Sessions would take the pressure off him to start the offense. Now he needs to tell the other starters that the ball needs to be in Sessions' hands to start the play.

When plays start to break down, the ball needs to go back to Sessions to re-institute a play. Now it is face up one-and-one basketball when the shot clock gets down to seven seconds or less. And Kobe is the worst offender.

The principal problem with the Lakers offense, though, is turnovers caused by players standing around instead of running off screens and cutting to the basket. Laker announcers repeatedly refer to Matt Barnes as an "energy guy." Why is it that the only player on the team who hustles to make cuts, runs the baseline and uses screens is considered a hustle guy? Isn’t that what all players are supposed to do, even Kobe Bryant?

The current Laker offense often stalls at the three-point line when the ball is passed to World Peace and his defender backs off and clogs the lane to stop cutters and mid-range jumpers. Every team in the league is content to let World Peace miss three-pointers that often lead to fast breaks because of the long bounces resulting from his shots clanging off the rim.

There are two Ron Artest’s. There is Metta World Peace, who occasionally shows up for big games as he did this month against the Heat and Celtics. Then there is the other Ron Artest, known as Metta World Disaster, who plays with so much disinterest that it seems like an ordeal for him to have to play in games meaningless to him.

At Metta’s age, hustling is a luxury expended only on rare occasions. On those nights, Brown must adjust Metta’s playing time to reflect his lack of effort and commitment. Brown failed to adjust Metta’s time in losses to the Jazz and Rockets but left Barnes on the floor in "crunch time" against the Mavs.

At the same time, it has been visually obvious in the last week that the second unit has played better than the starters. Maybe it is because of the addition of Sessions and maybe it is part of the exhaustion factor from this year’s odd scheduling. The cause really doesn’t matter, but the solution does. 

In the Jazz game, the second unit extended the lead in the second quarter and the Laker starters lost it by the half. The bench again extended the lead in late third and early fourth quarters. When the starters returned, they gave up a big run to the Jazz and lost.

The events in Houston were not dissimilar.

The Laker starters shot poorly giving up turnovers and fast break points in clusters. Again late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, the Lakers’ bench extended the lead. Late in the fourth quarter when the Lakers led by 12 points, Brown reinserted his starters, who summarily lost the lead and the game.

From an offensive standpoint, Brown must learn to recognize when Kobe is having an off night and stubbornly shooting the basketball. What is wrong with Kobe sitting for long spells when the second unit is playing better than the starters? Instead of hurting Kobe’s ego, he would be saving Kobe from himself.

And why hasn’t Brown and Laker management made Kobe sit out a game on back-to-back trips to rest his legs? Laker fans understand how important it is for Kobe to play every game, but if playing every game leads to losses and Kobe being further exhausted, what good does it do to play him?

The Lakers’ defense looks good only when the offense isn’t turning over the ball to younger teams able to fast-break on them. When the Lakers can slow down the opposition into a half court game, they are statically one of the best defenses in the league. By improving their offensive sets, increasing scoring and limiting the oppositions’ fast-break opportunities, this Laker team can be a contender.

However,  that will not happen until Brown casts aside The Emperor’s New Offense and teaches an offense that works with and for these players. Much like the emperor, Brown may be laughed out of his jo, if his lack of offense is exposed in a playoff sweep like the Mavs exposed Phil Jackson’s weaknesses as a coach in last year’s playoffs.

The Lakers can go only as far as Brown’s "naked" offense can take them.