Byron Scott is not Mike D’Antoni and he doesn’t want his team playing anything like they did under their old coach. We know Swaggy P and co loved jacking up threes last season but Scott is trying to put reigns on.
“Our game plan is really to get to that basket,” said Scott. “I like the fact that we only shot 10 threes. If we shoot between 10 and 15, I think that’s a good mixture of getting to that basket and shooting threes. I don’t want us to be coming down, forcing up a bunch of threes. I really want us to attack the basket.”
Less threes, more shots at the rim. This seems like a good strategy for a team like the Lakers who really don’t have the most accurate shooters. Their two best three point shooters last year, Meeks and Farmar, are no longer with the team but they really don’t even have the down low personnel like that either. I love Kobe and Nash but their games aren’t built like they used to be. Kobe will be fine because he is way too smart a player to not find a way to tailor his game to elongate his career but he’s never going to be that same guy. Nash has to prove he can even stay on the court. The Lakers won’t be good this year but the fans can at least have Kobe to watch. Who knows how much longer we have with the Mamba. Lakers three-point shots will undoubtedly go down from last season and so will their three-point shooting percentage but both are to be expected. The question will be in watching this team come together and play this new style. It will be interesting to watch.