Mike D'Antoni's Debut Tonight Against The Nets

    Mike D'Antoni.  The answer to all of the Lakers problems or the demise?  Without a doubt, we all wanted Phil Jackson back but I think D'Antoni is going to be great.  At least in the regular season, he's definitely a step up from Mike Brown. So what's so special about D'Antoni?  He brings in a high powered offensive style known as "Seven Seconds or Less" (amongst other things) because the offensive shoots the ball in 7 seconds.  He runs a lot of pick and rolls, which is apparent during his reign in Phoenix with Nash and Amar'e.  This is perfect for the Lakers with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol in the paint and Nash in the backcourt.  While the defense is worried about that, Metta is in the corner waiting for a 3-pointer and I haven't even mentioned the best player in the NBA, Kobe Bryant.  I have to mention that age is not going to be a factor when it comes to Lakers, it will not hinder their performance.  Who do you double team? Who do you guard?  The problem isn't usually the Lakers starting line-up, however it's the bench.  I think that Jodie Meeks is going to thrive in D'Antoni's offensive, he should get 2-4 3-points a game.  Jamison adds some experience to the bench and we're going to see Morris develop quickly.  Jordan Hill is going to be a huge piece off the bench because he hustles.  The U of A power forward will grab a lot of rebounds, mostly offensive which is huge.  So what's D'Antoni's record like?

    D'Antoni is a player turned coach.  He won Coach Of The Year during his first year in Phoenix with the Suns in 2004-05 season.  He has 0 championships as a coach and 0 finals experience, he's been to the conference finals twice but lost.  He got Steve Nash the MVP two years in a row though (2005 and 2006), stealing at least 1 from Kobe, in 2006 when he scored 81 points against the Raptors.  Check out the box score from that game, HERE.  His lack of playoff experience worries me.  

    I'm confident that the Lakers are going to be incredible during the regular season, "Showtime" is back.  Unfortunately we won't be able to see the offensive truly shine until Nash is back.  He should catch on quickly though, having been coached by this offense for 5 years.  I'm predicting that the Lakers will lead the league in total points and probably average around 110 of them a game.  However, their are 2 problems that arise with this high powered offense. The first is that the team has to adjust to the offense, which will take about a month.  The second is that the style of play during the playoffs is different from the regular season.  "Defense Wins Championships" is still extremely valid during this time and we don't really have a lot of it strategically. We'll have to see how this goes.  Hopefully their offensive will be their defense and hopefully Kobe, Dwight, (3-time Defensive Player of the Year 2009-11) and Metta (Defensive Player of the Year 2004) can hold it down freestyle.  

    I'm excited to see how this season is going to go. I know one thing is for sure though.  Kobe needs to get his 6th ring this season.