Jackson: "There's Too Many Threes" <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> CHICAGO ? Coach Phil Jackson had seen enough of the three-point festival, so he scrawled out how many the Lakers had taken Sunday against Washington. It was only the first quarter. They had already taken eight. Then a player Jackson didn't identify ? but, as game records would show, was Maurice Evans ? launched a three-point shot on the Lakers' first possession of the second quarter in a 147-141 overtime loss to Washington. Timeout, Lakers. There was nothing Jackson could do to stop the barrage of three-point shots, 44 in all, that obliterated the team record of 37 set Nov. 28 against Milwaukee. The record before that was 36 against Miami in December 2004, during the free-flinging days of coach Rudy Tomjanovich. In the Lakers' defense, they made a team-record 19 of their three-point shots Sunday, a more-than-acceptable 43.2%. But Jackson shifted uncomfortably when talking about it. Of the Lakers' 100 field-goal attempts, 44% were from behind the arc. "There's too many threes [there] in a sequence of a game," Jackson said. Kobe Bryant and Vladimir Radmanovic were more or less excused from fault, Bryant making seven of 11 tries and Radmanovic making five of nine. Smush Parker missed his five three-point attempts and Evans missed his three. Brian Cook capped a rally from a 21-point deficit by making, no surprise, a three-pointer with 5.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers were one for seven from three-point range in overtime.</div> Source I agree, the Lakers need to focus on getting to the free throw line 60 times a game.
Man I couldnt believe how many threes they are jacking up. They need to attack the basket more. Smush shouldn't even be allow to shoot threes only, Kobe, Luke, Cook, Vladman and Farmar...the rest should focus on attacking the basket.
When you're shooting 43%, don't know how you can complain about the threes. Unless Jackson thinks that it's negatively impacting the Lakers defense (misses lead to better transition opportunities for the opponent).
I whole heartedly agree. We aren't the phoenix suns, we have yet to show the consistent ability to hit from long range. Unless your name is Vladamir Radmanovic and you were brought along to shoot threes to stretch the floor I don't really want to see otherwise. Hitting three's is the quick solution to catch up from a deficit but when you have time left don't take the chance, take it straight to the hole. Get to the FT line, stop the clock and score.
Apparently the team wasn't listening, they shot 19 last night. Durvasa, to answer your question, it's not so much the Lakers shooting 3's, it's settling for them or shooting them too early in the clock, that PJax is upset about. He wants this offense to function inside-out, and with the players settling for jumpshots against the zone, it completely neutralizes the effectiveness of the Triangle.
If we're making threes, I don't mind it as much. The big issue I have with shooting so many is we're giving up fast break points in the process. If you're going to be settling for the long trey, get the offensive board to prevent the fastbreak opportunity occasionally. More often than not the Lakers aren't getting the board, and that's hurting us. Personally, I'd like to see them shoot less and take it to the hoop more. Doing that gets us the much higher percentage shot and prevents the other team from getting on the break as easily.
