Kobe Bryant sees nothing wrong with Mike D’Antoni’s system – NBA Update
The Los Angeles Lakers have nothing going their way at the moment. The losses are mounting, the injury returns are getting delayed and on top of that, they are under fire, both from their fans and the former greats.
The most incisive attack was made recently by Magic Johnson, who openly questioned the effectiveness of Mike D’Antoni’s system, especially the usage of Pau Gasol in it. However, Kobe Bryant has always maintained that he sees nothing
wrong with the system and every player will have to make adjustments for it to work. On Wednesday while talking to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, he reiterated his opinion, and vested confidence in D’Antoni’s ability to mould his system according to the team requirements
and strengths.
"It kind of remains to be seen, how well we're going to play, in the system, in the up-and-down system," he said. "Now granted, Steve (Nash) is not in the offense. He's the conductor of the offense. He's the one that's familiar
orchestrating it. Are we the fastest team in the league? Not close, but you don't necessarily have to have speed to be an effective running team."
Perhaps one of the major reasons why D’Antoni was preferred over Phil Jackson was the presence of Steve Nash in the lineup. The duo had a successful time at Phoenix Suns and if there is one man who knows Mike D’s system, he is
Nash. The problem for the Lakers is that their star point guard has been injured since the second regular season game, and is still weeks away from returning to the court. In addition to Nash, his backup Steve Blake is also out indefinitely because of a surgery
to repair a torn muscle in the lower abdomen. Without effective playmakers on the court, the Lakers have struggled to adapt to the new offensive system.
Kobe was however sure that in time; D’Antoni will get a hang of things.
"I think Mike D is a very, very smart offensive coach," Bryant said. "He's not a man that is stuck in doing it one particular way. If it's not working, I'm sure he's open to mixing things up. I know that.”
Tags: