Jeanie Buss comes out fighting. After ESPN’s basketball head honcho Henry Abbott posted a rather interesting article about top players not wanting to play with Kobe Bryant [Dwight Howard springs to mind], Buss has strongly defended Bryant.
BUSS: ONLY LOSERS WOULDN’T WANT TO PLAY WITH KOBE
You tell ‘em, girl.
One problem: The Lakers are now literally one of the weakest teams in the NBA and even though Kobe has been injured that time, you can’t really see him changing it on his own.
Sure they have Jeremy Lin, but he isn’t a game-changer.
Via ESPN:
Any free agent that would be afraid to play with Kobe Bryant is probably a loser, and I’m glad they wouldn’t come to the team,” Buss said.
“I read the story,” Buss said Thursday. “I don’t agree with any of it. If there is somebody that’s on our payroll who is saying things like that, I’ll soon get to the bottom of it, and they won’t be working for us anymore.” […] In fact, Buss has a warning for all of Bryant’s detractors: “I have no doubt that Kobe will make people regret ever saying” those comments, she said.
“We made a very good case for [Carmelo Anthony] coming to Los Angeles,” Buss said. “But he’s from New York, he sees a mission. I understand why he chose to stay with New York. I don’t think any of that has to do with Kobe Bryant.”
Suppose that she is wrong though. I wonder what she would say. Because there is no way, the Lakers are better than the Spurs, Warriors, local rivals, the Clippers etc..
JACKSON: MELO’S PASSING WILL IMPROVE
If this does happen, Carmelo Anthony could finally be in the same light as LeBron and KD. We don’t see it happening though.
We’ll see though.
Via ESPN:
“Even though Iman Shumpert was in [former Knicks coach] Mike Woodson’s dog house for much of last season, he’s one of my favorites because he’s simply our best on-ball defender at the 2 position and also against the bigger 1s. Once he learns the intricacies of the offense, Iman will be able to create scoring opportunities for his teammates and, unlike last season, he’ll know where his own shots will come from. Iman is an excellent driver but his shooting mechanics are very inconsistent. Sometimes he jumps too high to release his shot and sometimes he doesn’t jump high enough. As a result, he never shoots the same shot twice.”
“Carmelo Anthony is obviously the team’s only certified All-Star. It’s also no secret that Melo has to keep the ball moving, but he’s committed to doing this. Passing has never been a great strength of his, but in the triangle he’ll be able to have check-off reads like a quarterback looking for his first-option receiver, then his second and then his third. There’ll be plenty of iso opportunities for Melo, and in the triangle it’ll be very difficult for defenses to double-team him. It won’t be like last season where he had to take clutch shots with a gang of defenders in his face. Also look for Melo to get a bunch of post-up looks.”
“The 2 position is our deepest, and J.R. Smith is easily the best athlete on the team. But J.R. has to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot. He has to trust that the triangle will create good shots and to avoid searching for his own shot. His defense also needs work because he tends to be a ball-watcher, and he’s late in chasing his man around screens when he should be tailgating him. Defense is the key to any winning team, so Smith has to really work hard on his deficiencies in training camp.”
