The Lakers' backcourt is already having some chemistry problems just a couple games into the season.
Two games into the Los Angeles Lakers' season, Kobe Bryant is already vocalizing his frustrations with the team's performance on the court. Following a 119-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, the team's second loss in two days, Bryant called out point guard Jeremy Lin and said he needed "to run the offense" in L.A.
Kobe said he talked to Lin on the bench & said "you got to run the offense. I'm telling you to run the offense & you got to do it."(on TWC)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 30, 2014
Bryant put up numbers in the loss to Phoenix, scoring 31 points on 11-of-25 shooting, but the rest of the offense wasn't nearly as productive. No other starter reached double figures in scoring, and Carlos Boozer was a complete disaster, recording more turnovers (eight) than shot attempts (six). Lin had six points on 2-of-5 shooting in 21 minutes.
It's easy to see why Kobe would be frustrated given the direction of the Lakers' season, first with the two lopsided losses and then the injury to Julius Randle. There's not a lot to get excited about in Los Angeles right now, and for a hyper competitive guy like Bryant, hiding frustration has never been a strong suit.
However, even if Kobe's exasperation is defensible, he might want to direct it elsewhere. The Lakers are a total disaster at the moment, but placing that responsibility on the shoulders of Lin, who's played just two games with the franchise, seems a tad misguided. It's not like there's much the point guard can do when the offense looks like this:
Notice that Lin, No. 17, is just hanging on the wing during this play, completely wide open as Bryant launches a desperate three-pointer. We've seen some sweet passes from Kobe early this season, but it's hard to tell teammates to step up while you're playing Hero Ball.
This isn't to say that the Lakers' offense is a complete lost cause, even if the entire basketball world cringes every time Kobe takes an ill-fated shot or Byron Scott downplays the importance of threes. But if the future Hall of Famer wants to see his team racking up points with greater efficiency going forward, he's going to need to be the primary catalyst. There's only so much Lin can do when he's a point guard playing off the ball.
Bryant probably won't stop talking unless the Lakers start winning, which seems like an increasingly unlikely proposition entering the third day of the season. Still, it might benefit everyone if he focused more on his own efficiency, and less on what Lin is (or isn't) doing.
from SBNation.com - All Posts http://www.sbnation.com/2014/10/30/7132083/kobe-bryant-jeremy-lin-run-the-offense-comments-lakers-2014
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