NBA 2K13 News Post

NBA 2K13: Why did the Lakers disappoint?

11:22 AM - May 9, 2013 by RaychelSnr

I’ve built a lot of Associations in NBA 2K13 that would never work in real life. Yes, it’s partly because I’ve abused the trade logic to get what I wanted, but even disregarding that, the teams I like to make tend to be heavy on talent and light on experience. I’ve won the Larry O’Brien Trophy before with a team of players all under 24, and that’s not something you see very often. (The youngest team to win an NBA Championship was the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers, whose median age was 24.)

In their own perverse way, the real life Los Angeles Lakers tried to do something similar this year. Instead of a team of young up-and-comers, though, they put together a roster that was heavy on talent and experience, but old, injury-prone, and without a clear direction.

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# 21 Eaglerock562 @ 05/10/13 01:50 AM

Another thing that needs to be mentioned is that the Lakers tried this formula before back in the 2003-04 season when they signed Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Malone suffered his biggest injury of his career shortly into the season and Payton did play all 82 games but was not as effective as he was expected to be. Even though they did get to the NBA Finals, they were embarrassed and dismantled by a younger, hungrier and more team oriented Detroit Pistons, who I might add are the most recent team to win a championship without a "superstar" player. So the formula didn't work in the 2003-04 season and 9 years later, the Lakers tried it again and once again injuries and having chemistry issues came to a head. Instead of Malone, it was Nash, who missed the most games of his career in a single season this year and other then several games it was Howard taking Payton's place playing most of the season, but again expectations were not met.

With Gasol undergoing and having successful surgery it was reported today, he will need 12 weeks (3 months) then he will be cleared for basketball activities. One would think that him having surgery might make it a long shot that a team would be willing to make a trade for him without seeing how he responds after the surgery, but one thing the Lakers can't do prematurely is trade him without having Howard signed. At least with Gasol you know since he is under contract that he is going to be here, but if Howard was to leave and you trade Gasol, you've lost both big men and left with what? Jordan Hill and Robert Sacre? No disrespect, but that right there would call for Jim Buss's head on a stick and probably Kupchak's job.

The Lakers are going to be without a doubt salary cap strapped this off season. They will not have much to offer free agents other then the chance to play along side Kobe, Howard, Gasol, Nash and at best a chance to win a ring. Now that would appeal to those free agents who have been in the league long enough and have made a good amount of $$ that they aren't driven by the almighty dollar rather they are driven by wanting to win a ring now.

Looking at the free agents coming up this summer here is a list of possible players the Lakers should target...

Point Guards - Daniel Gibson, Jarrett Jack, Nate Robinson
Shooting Guards - J.J. Redick, Kyle Korver, Gary Neal, Randy Foye, Nick Young
Forwards - Lamar Odom, Mike Dunleavy, Chase Budinger, DaJuan Blair, J.J. Hickson
Centers - Chris Anderson, Joel Przybilla

# 22 tril @ 05/10/13 01:54 AM

Good article, but the title is misleading. I see where you are trying to do with this though. so here are my thoughts.

Ive said this in the past on wishlist threads, 2k needs to also implement a touches/ per game feature along with the minutes for players. you clearly state the case for this with this statement " Dwight Howard kept insisting that he needed to get more touches in the post".

I believe if 2k adds this along with the roles, they'll eventually be able to create more complex sim like teams. Minutes isn't enough.
Injuries and nagging injuries,need to be better implemented. as well as factoring in recovery time for older players, as well as fatigue recovery for older players. maybe 2k should implement a degenerative conditioning slider for players.

player personalty needs to be fleshed out and implemented better. laid back, neutral, etc. seems superficial with no depth. the question is how does 2k create algorithms that will and can reflect true team chemistry.

and as someone eluded to in an earlier post. 2k needs to use more real-time updates to the player data.; Which I thought already existed to some extent.

# 23 mpac @ 05/10/13 03:11 AM

IMO, they disappoint due to team chemistry, Kobe injury and coach don't know how to utilize both Dwight and Pau, when playing together.

2k-wise they are contenders, but IRL they wont be unless they respect each other and play with fitting roles.

# 24 Melbournelad @ 05/10/13 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eaglerock562


	Another thing that needs to be mentioned is that the Lakers tried this formula before back in the 2003-04 season when they signed Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Malone suffered his biggest injury of his career shortly into the season and Payton did play all 82 games but was not as effective as he was expected to be. Even though they did get to the NBA Finals, they were embarrassed and dismantled by a younger, hungrier and more team oriented Detroit Pistons, who I might add are the most recent team to win a championship without a "superstar" player. So the formula didn't work in the 2003-04 season and 9 years later, the Lakers tried it again and once again injuries and having chemistry issues came to a head. Instead of Malone, it was Nash, who missed the most games of his career in a single season this year and other then several games it was Howard taking Payton's place playing most of the season, but again expectations were not met. With Gasol undergoing and having successful surgery it was reported today, he will need 12 weeks (3 months) then he will be cleared for basketball activities. One would think that him having surgery might make it a long shot that a team would be willing to make a trade for him without seeing how he responds after the surgery, but one thing the Lakers can't do prematurely is trade him without having Howard signed. At least with Gasol you know since he is under contract that he is going to be here, but if Howard was to leave and you trade Gasol, you've lost both big men and left with what? Jordan Hill and Robert Sacre? No disrespect, but that right there would call for Jim Buss's head on a stick and probably Kupchak's job. The Lakers are going to be without a doubt salary cap strapped this off season. They will not have much to offer free agents other then the chance to play along side Kobe, Howard, Gasol, Nash and at best a chance to win a ring. Now that would appeal to those free agents who have been in the league long enough and have made a good amount of $$ that they aren't driven by the almighty dollar rather they are driven by wanting to win a ring now. Looking at the free agents coming up this summer here is a list of possible players the Lakers should target... Point Guards - Daniel Gibson, Jarrett Jack, Nate Robinson Shooting Guards - J.J. Redick, Kyle Korver, Gary Neal, Randy Foye, Nick Young Forwards - Lamar Odom, Mike Dunleavy, Chase Budinger, DaJuan Blair, J.J. Hickson Centers - Chris Anderson, Joel Przybilla

You really think for Jarrett jack, J.J Hickson, J.J Redick, Randy Foye or Kyle Korver is going to come and play for us for less than 2 million? Because all we have to offer is the mini MLE.

# 25 Narigo1 @ 05/10/13 10:21 AM

1. Injuries
Dwight came back to quickly from his back injury and wasn't quite himmself at the beginning of the year. Steve Nash had various injuries throughout the season. Gasol, Blake, and Artest was injured and then finally Kobe torn his achillies at the end of the season

2. Defense
People like to point out that D'Anoni was the main issue why their defense wasn't good but ouside Dwight and Artest they didn't have an capable defenders. Nash, Jamison, Meeks are bad defenders. Heck even Kobe was very inconisstent on defense this year.

# 26 Facts @ 05/10/13 03:20 PM

As a non-Laker fan surround by "Greatest Team Ever Assembled" Claimers back in Aug.-Sept., the Lakers did not disappoint. Took them til the last day to make the playoffs and then they got swept. lol

# 27 Vni @ 05/10/13 03:25 PM

Props to you guys for discussing Lakers without trolling/insulting/hating. Refreshing.

# 28 DirtyNeedles @ 05/10/13 03:34 PM

I had to watch and listen about this train wreck the entire season.

1. Injuries - everyone was injured at some point and time and the players didn't get to gel because of that. What do you expect with all the old players you signed. I remember they got rid of Fisher because he was old and when they signed Nash everyone was like this is the best back court of all time! It's funny because fisher is younger than nash!

2.) Dwight bitching about not being #1 option. When he finally realized he would only be robin if kobe was around he actually played better.

3.) Coaching

# 29 Phreezy P @ 05/11/13 01:10 AM

* 7th Seed

# 30 Grey_Osprey @ 05/11/13 03:27 AM

I don't think they disappointed. I think people had too high of expectations for this teamConsidering the age of the team, lack of athletism, lack of defensive mentality (you have to want to play D), etc, etc, etc. Honestly, I thought they were the 4th or 5th best team in the west when healthy, let alone when hurt and all the other distractions/hoopla surrounding this team.

But the misery gets even better. They are in a serious mess salary cap wise. If they sign Howard to the max deal, they will be somewhere around $100M in payroll for next year. With the new CBA rules, they will have to pay around $80M in taxes. Plus, the new CBA has non-monetary penalities too, such as a smaller mid-level exception, no bi-annual exception, cannot receive a player in a sign and trade transaction, and a few other restrictions. They could be looking at a scenerio where they can only resign their own players and offer league minimums.

# 31 Eaglerock562 @ 05/11/13 08:27 AM

They are going to be restricted very heavily due to their cap situation, but they aren't the only team in that situation. Miami is in the same boat and as you can see they can only offer minimum contracts at best, so free agents wanting to win a ring will be choosing between one of them. The Lakers and correct me if I'm wrong when they traded for Howard they did obtain his bird rights correct?

I'm sure that Jarrett Jack, Redick, Korver can get a bigger contract from a number of teams, but the question is what those teams look like in terms of competing for a championship. The Lakers for the most part aren't an old team as everyone tries to make them out to be. Other then Nash and Kobe no other Laker is over 35 and I'm not including Jamison since his contract is up July 1st.

# 32 Melbournelad @ 05/11/13 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eaglerock562


	They are going to be restricted very heavily due to their cap situation, but they aren't the only team in that situation. Miami is in the same boat and as you can see they can only offer minimum contracts at best, so free agents wanting to win a ring will be choosing between one of them. The Lakers and correct me if I'm wrong when they traded for Howard they did obtain his bird rights correct? I'm sure that Jarrett Jack, Redick, Korver can get a bigger contract from a number of teams, but the question is what those teams look like in terms of competing for a championship. The Lakers for the most part aren't an old team as everyone tries to make them out to be. Other then Nash and Kobe no other Laker is over 35 and I'm not including Jamison since his contract is up July 1st.

I agree jack and reddick would likely take a paycut to play for a contender, but not to the point where they are only making 1-2 million. Put yourself in their shoes, would you take 1 mil or even the vets min on a contender, or receive 6-7 million on a team with room? Keep in mind this will likely be these two players last major contract.

# 33 Eaglerock562 @ 05/11/13 10:23 AM

Oh I agree with you, they would obviously be sacrificing a ton of money especially when playing for a contender isn't a guarantee that you are getting a ring, rather it's just a better chance to, but I agree with you, Redick made $6.6 million this year I believe, for him to play for the Lakers would mean a huge sacrifice on his part, but I would think if a player is relatively young enough still in his career that he might take less money and sign for a year with a chance to win a ring and then the next season take the bigger and longer contract offers, but the pattern usually goes, you go after the money first and then after your big contract on the back end of your career you sign where the chance to win a ring is the greatest.

It's a tough spot for the Lakers to be in as a franchise because I have no doubt that a Redick, Jack, or Korver on this team, coming off the bench and the bench being used with D'Antoni's system would be the right fit. As in regards to the starting five, D'Antoni needs to not bother them at all and not try to mold them into his philosophy, let those five, who are veterans and understand and know the game and what they can do, let Nash be the coach of that starting unit and D'Antoni take the bench players and mold them with is offensive philosophy.

It would benefit the Lakers to sign a few players that are combo players that can play the 2 or 3 spot and are athletic, they can defend, and they can shoot, because having two of those types on your bench would allow Kobe to not have to shoulder so many roles and responsibilities game to game.

Having a few of those players coming off your bench would mean you don't have to resort to Kobe guarding the other teams best guard or best player, it would more then likely relieve Kobe of playing the number of minutes that he has been logging the past 2 years and D'Antoni has to grow some balls and tell Kobe that he isn't going to be playing 38-48 minutes a game. And Kobe has to understand that it's not trying to control him, but it's a way to extend him health wise over the course of a season and quite possibly by telling him he's gonna be playing 30-32 minutes a game, you might prolong his career by another year or so.

I have no doubt in my mind that Kobe has strong minded as he is, he's going to return from his achilles injury and he's not going to look any different. If anything, he might be better because the one thing I know that Kobe will focus on is to adjust his game due to this injury. That's what guys like Jordan and Kobe do at the latter part of their careers. They know they aren't going to be flying out of the gym, they know that they aren't going to be as quick, but mentally they grow stronger, and Kobe I am positive from a mental standpoint is going to decimate the opponent just by being smarter because the other teams in the league, the one thing they can't predict or game plan against is how to defend and how to play Kobe when he comes back from the injury, it's going to take them at least a game or two playing the Lakers to make adjustments, but then that could very well be Kobe's mental advantage.

We all know though that everything is either going to fall in place or fall apart with Dwight's decision. Speaking of that, would anyone have an issue with Howard demanding that ESPN hold an hour long show titled "The Bigger Decision" in July? If LeB*tch could do it, why not Howard.

# 34 Taer @ 05/11/13 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melbournelad


	I agree jack and reddick would likely take a paycut to play for a contender, but not to the point where they are only making 1-2 million. Put yourself in their shoes, would you take 1 mil or even the vets min on a contender, or receive 6-7 million on a team with room? Keep in mind this will likely be these two players last major contract.

I have a strong belief that if the Lakers offer Redick a 3 million one year contract, he'd take it. I also think the Lakers would be wise to do so.

The reason I think Redick would go for this is because of how his break-out season with the Magic was somewhat stunted by the trade to Milwaukee. If Redick can have another season like he showed in Orlando, I think it would really help him land a much bigger deal the year after and I think that with the strong free agent class of that year (Melo, LBJ, etc) he would be able to land a big contract as a "second" option if he so desired to take this course of action.

Perhaps this is just wistful thinking on my part, but I do see it as a possibility.

# 35 tommsalmond @ 05/11/13 03:54 PM

I dont think that Reddick, Korver, Jack etc will take the money that the Lakers will offer. They're are too many other teams looking for shooting (Denver, Indiana, Houston, Memphis, Chicago) that can offer a safer title challenge (Kobe injured, Dwight fiasco, Gasol being dangled, Nash underpeforming) but pay better. Lakers probabally just need to regroup and try again with the same cast.

# 36 kmiree16 @ 05/11/13 06:05 PM

Injuries were the biggest problem for them. What everyone was expecting to be the starting lineup at the beginning of the season didn't get to play much together at all. Add that in with an abrupt coaching change (to a coach that didn't fit them well at all) and things took a turn for the worse. Honestly, next to the Timberwolves, they were the most injury riddled team heading into the postseason. It took a momumental effort from Kobe, a late season resurgence of Pau Gasol and Steve Blake playing totally out of character for the Lakers to even make the playoffs.

# 37 Eaglerock562 @ 05/11/13 06:34 PM

To me this is the most amazing stat this season. The all-star studded starting five over the course of the 82 game season started a grand total of just....7 games together. In those 7 games the Lakers were (0-7). They were 17-10 with the starting lineup of (Bryant, Nash, Clark, World Peace and Howard).

That statistic of the starting five all-stars record is astonishing. I don't think anyone would believe that if they go and look at the Lakers record by starting lineup for the season, but 0-7, and count that with the pre-season in which I think they played 3 games together, they were 0-10. How do you not win at least one game with that starting lineup? That is a statistic that Lakers management might need to look at.

# 38 Melbournelad @ 05/11/13 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taer


	I have a strong belief that if the Lakers offer Redick a 3 million one year contract, he'd take it. I also think the Lakers would be wise to do so. The reason I think Redick would go for this is because of how his break-out season with the Magic was somewhat stunted by the trade to Milwaukee. If Redick can have another season like he showed in Orlando, I think it would really help him land a much bigger deal the year after and I think that with the strong free agent class of that year (Melo, LBJ, etc) he would be able to land a big contract as a "second" option if he so desired to take this course of action. Perhaps this is just wistful thinking on my part, but I do see it as a possibility.

But do we have 3 million? I have a feeling we are really close to the hard cap limit. Unless we amnestied someone like Metta.

# 39 turty11 @ 05/11/13 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melbournelad


	But do we have 3 million? I have a feeling we are really close to the hard cap limit. Unless we amnestied someone like Metta.

why amnesty there is an early termination clause in his contract but i think its on his end to do it

# 40 Melbournelad @ 05/11/13 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turty11


	why amnesty there is an early termination clause in his contract but i think its on his end to do it

Yeah as you said lol it is a player option not a team option. Most players probably wouldn't but maybe Metta is unselfish enough to give up that 7 million and possibly sign a 3 year, 4 million per year deal.

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