Gary A. Vasquez- US Presswire
After watching the game this past Sunday it’s clear to many of us that a huge dilemma for the Los Angeles Lakers is offense. The Lakers couldn’t score to save their lives, and if they had just managed a better shooting performance they would have got the victory.
Alas, what’s done is done, and now the Lakers must figure out what adjustments to make for the next game.
Now, the obvious change would be that Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol should get more touches in the post, working in correlation with one another. Howard and Gasol didn’t have bad games, but they have to generate much more offense, especially with Kobe Bryant out.
The larger concern, and one that can potentially make a huge difference, is the offensive production of Steve Blake and Steve Nash. The two point guards were missing open looks all day, which is unacceptable for a team lacking a scorer. My suggestion to remedy the issue is simple, have Blake play the point, and Nash play the 2 guard.
Allow me to explain my solution. Blake was scoring at a highly efficient rate in the games prior to the playoffs, and I believe this is because he had the ball in his hands for a good portion of the game. Being in possession of the ball seems to provide Blake with a greater feeling of confidence, which in turn translates into a better shooting percentage.
Now, with Nash at the shooting guard position it does two things for him. First, with Nash at the shooting guard position it takes less pressure off him to come back at full strength from his injury. With less pressure on his mind about carrying the team, Nash will be able to shoot the ball freely, and hopefully see better results from it.
Also, by placing Nash at the shooting guard position it allows him to get more spot up shots, rather than roll off screens for baskets. I’m not suggesting that this is automatically going to solve the Lakers problems, but it will definitely help.
