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Laker's Fan
Franchise Player
Joined: 27 Jun 2002
Posts: 12861
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 Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:27 am Post subject: |
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DB - a very enjoyable read as always. Mad Kudos.
One note. I think you are being waaaaaay to kind to *mush. It is one thing to be out matched (like Chucky was all of last year) but Parker doesn't seem to be putting in the effort. Look at the difference in how Parker dominated Miller at the beginning of the season and what happened last night. As bad as Sasha is on defense I found myself routinely hoping for him to replace Parker who seems to be pouting or upset by something.
On that note I actually believe it may have something to do with the fact that Kobe, Lamar, Kwame et al go home from games living a rich and famous lifestyle while Parker sees himself getting the short end of the stick making $1.5 over 2 years. In truth that is not very much money when you roll with ballers.
I think he is bitter and doesn't respect the opportunity he has been given.
_________________
Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night. |
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DancingBarry
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Joined: 07 Sep 2001
Posts: 40202
Location: O.C.
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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A lot of Smush psychologists out here. One says he's happy because he got his small contract guaranteed, another says he's unhappy because it's not enough. Could Smush be a little less hungry because he has a few more dollars? Sure. Could he be jealous that he doesn't have more? I guess. There are plenty of theories on why he's not playing great basketball.
Problem is everyone's expectations on Smush. You put in a young guard who Kupchak described and not quite a rookie and not quite an experienced player...a guy who clearly anyone in the entire league would tell you before the season started that he's not starting guard material yet... and you are going to have ups and downs.
He's played above everyone's expectations. Then, we move the bar on him and smack him down because he's not playing up to even higher expections. Why should I play that game?
Of course there are a lot of things he should do to improve his game, but why are we expecting him to give that consistent quality play this season? Those expectations are pretty unrealistic. |
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DancingBarry
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Joined: 07 Sep 2001
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Location: O.C.
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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| TheBigRuski wrote: | | Outstanding report! The LA Times should have a special section for you! |
I know you, you didn't even read this.   |
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magic_bryant
Franchise Player
Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 18179
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:34 pm Post subject: |
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| DancingBarry wrote: | | TheBigRuski wrote: | | Outstanding report! The LA Times should have a special section for you! |
I know you, you didn't even read this. |
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass." |
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Shapecity
Starting Rotation
Joined: 13 Apr 2005
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| DancingBarry wrote: | A lot of Smush psychologists out here. One says he's happy because he got his small contract guaranteed, another says he's unhappy because it's not enough. Could Smush be a little less hungry because he has a few more dollars? Sure. Could he be jealous that he doesn't have more? I guess. There are plenty of theories on why he's not playing great basketball.
Problem is everyone's expectations on Smush. You put in a young guard who Kupchak described and not quite a rookie and not quite an experienced player...a guy who clearly anyone in the entire league would tell you before the season started that he's not starting guard material yet... and you are going to have ups and downs.
He's played above everyone's expectations. Then, we move the bar on him and smack him down because he's not playing up to even higher expections. Why should I play that game?
Of course there are a lot of things he should do to improve his game, but why are we expecting him to give that consistent quality play this season? Those expectations are pretty unrealistic. |
Great post DB, and nice preview as well.
Smush has exceeded all expectations. I think his shortcomings are a result of playing in unstable situations early on and not really getting the proper coaching.
In Brian Shaw's interview blog, he said Smush is a hardworker in practice and has definitely shown progress.
Early on in the season I remember the coaches commenting on Kwame Brown, and said it's clear he's never been coached properly.
The PG production took a huge blow when McKie and Profit went down with injuries. I'm sure this will be addressed in the offseason, so for now we just have to deal with the ups and downs of Smush.
I wasn't disappointed in the loss last night. A lot of things could have been different, but the Lakers put themselves in a position to win and overcome an 18 point deficit.
I'm willing to live with Elson having a career night for the Nuggets to beat us by 2 in OT at Denver. |
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magic_bryant
Franchise Player
Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 18179
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Shapecity wrote: | | DancingBarry wrote: | A lot of Smush psychologists out here. One says he's happy because he got his small contract guaranteed, another says he's unhappy because it's not enough. Could Smush be a little less hungry because he has a few more dollars? Sure. Could he be jealous that he doesn't have more? I guess. There are plenty of theories on why he's not playing great basketball.
Problem is everyone's expectations on Smush. You put in a young guard who Kupchak described and not quite a rookie and not quite an experienced player...a guy who clearly anyone in the entire league would tell you before the season started that he's not starting guard material yet... and you are going to have ups and downs.
He's played above everyone's expectations. Then, we move the bar on him and smack him down because he's not playing up to even higher expections. Why should I play that game?
Of course there are a lot of things he should do to improve his game, but why are we expecting him to give that consistent quality play this season? Those expectations are pretty unrealistic. |
Great post DB, and nice preview as well.
Smush has exceeded all expectations. I think his shortcomings are a result of playing in unstable situations early on and not really getting the proper coaching.
In Brian Shaw's interview blog, he said Smush is a hardworker in practice and has definitely shown progress.
Early on in the season I remember the coaches commenting on Kwame Brown, and said it's clear he's never been coached properly.
The PG production took a huge blow when McKie and Profit went down with injuries. I'm sure this will be addressed in the offseason, so for now we just have to deal with the ups and downs of Smush.
I wasn't disappointed in the loss last night. A lot of things could have been different, but the Lakers put themselves in a position to win and overcome an 18 point deficit.
I'm willing to live with Elson having a career night for the Nuggets to beat us by 2 in OT at Denver. |
Shaw also said that Smush will play a good game then walk around with his chest out like he's some kind of hot shot.
Hey Smush, last time I checked, you have nothing to stick your chest out, you're still an undrafted rookie, who's been released 3 times and is a starter by default.
Ugh. I can't stand to watch players act like they've accomplished something. Even guys who HAVE won titles, such as Shaq, much less a guy like Smush.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass." |
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DancingBarry
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Joined: 07 Sep 2001
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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Here's exactly what BShaw said: | Quote: | BK: I'll see you, after almost every practice it seems, drilling and shooting with Sasha or Smush. Can you talk a little about their development as young guards in this league?
BS: It's tough, because especially being here under Phil, and the things that I talked about earlier, he's not gonna baby you. And I don't think at the beginning of the season or even going back to this summer, I don't think anybody really expected for Smush Parker to be the starting point guard for the Lakers this year, or for Sasha to be sharing the minutes with him as he is. Both of them have come a long way from the beginning of the season. They still have a long way to go. But I think Smush has done very well. He's matched up against some of the really good guards in this league and showed that he belongs, and that there's a place for him.
I challenge them constantly, because I don't want them to get comfortable. I want Smush to stay hungry. He came into the league early out of Fordham, went down to the developmental league, and now he's back. And sometimes he has a tendency, and even Sasha, if they have a good game and we win or go on a little streak, to stick their chests out and be like, "Okay, I'm here now," and not give it what they need to give in practice. So I want them to always stay sharp, and always work as hard as they can. I'm a little bit- I shouldn't say a little bit, I'm a lot harsher on the two of them than anybody else on the team because they play the same position I played. And you have to be an extension of what the coaches want done out there on the floor.
And with them both being young and being inexperienced, it's tough for them when Phil calls something on the court and they're supposed to run it, but Kobe's on the other side going "Give me the ball!" and they have to make that decision. Do I give it to Kobe? Do I not give it to him and have him yelling at me, or do I run what the coaches are telling me to run?
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magic_bryant
Franchise Player
Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 18179
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| DancingBarry wrote: | Here's exactly what BShaw said: | Quote: | BK: I'll see you, after almost every practice it seems, drilling and shooting with Sasha or Smush. Can you talk a little about their development as young guards in this league?
BS: It's tough, because especially being here under Phil, and the things that I talked about earlier, he's not gonna baby you. And I don't think at the beginning of the season or even going back to this summer, I don't think anybody really expected for Smush Parker to be the starting point guard for the Lakers this year, or for Sasha to be sharing the minutes with him as he is. Both of them have come a long way from the beginning of the season. They still have a long way to go. But I think Smush has done very well. He's matched up against some of the really good guards in this league and showed that he belongs, and that there's a place for him.
I challenge them constantly, because I don't want them to get comfortable. I want Smush to stay hungry. He came into the league early out of Fordham, went down to the developmental league, and now he's back. And sometimes he has a tendency, and even Sasha, if they have a good game and we win or go on a little streak, to stick their chests out and be like, "Okay, I'm here now," and not give it what they need to give in practice. So I want them to always stay sharp, and always work as hard as they can. I'm a little bit- I shouldn't say a little bit, I'm a lot harsher on the two of them than anybody else on the team because they play the same position I played. And you have to be an extension of what the coaches want done out there on the floor.
And with them both being young and being inexperienced, it's tough for them when Phil calls something on the court and they're supposed to run it, but Kobe's on the other side going "Give me the ball!" and they have to make that decision. Do I give it to Kobe? Do I not give it to him and have him yelling at me, or do I run what the coaches are telling me to run?
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As I said.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass." |
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DancingBarry
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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Not quite. You are kind of ignoring the parts where BShaw says no one thought he would be the starting point guard for the Lakers this year and that even though he has a long way to go that he's done very well.
He is challenging them because he doesn't want them to get comfortable and there is no one else in the lineup to do that.
| DancingBarry wrote: | | I do know he's not being challenged much by any other point guard on our team. And, that is where the real problems lies. Always has been. |
This is the real problem from Day One. We put an inconsistent young guy in the starting lineup, run him huge minutes he's never played before and don't have another guard in the lineup who can rest him, take away his minutes when he's not working hard or having an off game and generally be a constant source of leverage against him to play better. If you have Smush coming off the bench and most likely bringing more energy because he's rested, he's working harder because he wants more minutes and you don't have to worry about the inconsistency (due to inexperience) because that is what young bench players do.
Smush has played better than everyone has expected of him, but we are moving the bar and expecting him to be something he's not ready to be yet. There was a reason people were worried about Smush Parker being our starting guard prior to this season. You have him coming off the bench and people could live with the issues as he develops. |
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Sister Golden Hair
Franchise Player
Joined: 01 May 2001
Posts: 15872
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:05 pm Post subject: |
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SMush's poor D is a combination of bad technique (and over-reliance on natural ability and long reach) and lack of consistent effort (which seems to follow whenever he has trouble getting his offense on track early in games). The disturbing thing is that he seems to have developed some attitude issues which are not commensurate with his status in the league. If there is one player who shouldn't be taking anything for granted, it's Smush. he should be playing all-out on defense every play because if he blows this chance, he may not get another. And what a chance!
He didn't even challange the opposing gurads on their passes to the post and for lobs. Simply by putting his hands up and altering the angle of their passes, he could have disruoted some of their easy (gift) looks. The Lakers always play lazy against the Nuggs, though. Denver seemingly gets 5-6 lob/back door dunks against LA EVERY GAME. That being said, the lakers bigs were also either late to react or to rotate and made Elson look like a friggin' all-star.
Back to Smuch: he thinks he's better than he is (and often plays with a bad attitude) but also doesn't realize how good he can be (on defense, for example) if only he puts in consistent effort and plays smarter ball. He relly needs some one-on-one tutoring to learn how to play defense in the L.
SGH |
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-Yo-
Star Player
Joined: 08 Jun 2002
Posts: 1320
Location: SoCal
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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What a tough loss after a decent come-back. But without the mental mistakes this game could have been won in regulation.
This really points up three things.
1. Jackson needs to get more creative and design some SIMPLE but effective plays after time-outs. We're way behind the curve.
2. We need a low-post player who can catch the ball and deliver the short- to mid-range jumper. Imagine having McHale in OT.
3. We desparately need a good veteran PG with shooting skills to do anything in the playoffs. Sadly, that's not to be... |
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