LAKERS -at- KINGS - 1/4 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings

wolfpaclaker · Retired Number Joined: 29 May 2002 Posts: 58336

Kobe played at a MVP level last night. If he can play like this 70% of the time he'll lead the Lakers to 52 wins atleast IMO. Anyone who watched last night will tell have a good long look at the standings and think about giving it to him this season.

Bynum - Stepped up. Loved the play early. He is still a bit indecisive but that is acceptable. Most of his mistakes are acceptable. I'm just impressed that everytime he's called in to step up, he does. He has no fear it seems and has that belief he belongs out there with the best. One of the things I really hope he works on this summer is his strength. He will be a force once he can put it all together.

DB - I think the Lakers showed again why defense is seperating them from the top spot in the league. The teams like Dallas and SA do not have the amount of defensive issues that the Lakers do. I don't know if this is something that will drastically change once Lamar comes back or if we need some personnel change. Maybe Phil thinks this team can "turn it on" by playoffs .. I'm not sure of that strategy. I think it worked for the Heat last season, who were an average defensive team (with alot of poor perimeter D) all regular season but then switched gears defensively in the playoffs.

XXL32 · Rookie Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 3

TheProdigy · Star Player Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 1847

Several posters commented last night as to how big Bynum was, which I definitely with. And you can tell the difference in his jumps. It's very unusual because you rarely see a guy changing his appearance so quickly in-season. I definitely think someone is relaying some information here to management(could it be you DB?) Either that, or management's thinking and mine are EXTREMELY similar.

Anyway, I just hope his knees will hold up. I think changing his diet is a good step. When you eat fast food and definitely sugar, they leech nutrients like calcium from the body, making you more vulnerable to injury. I would go a step further and think that he should look into something called vegetable juicing. They are like vitamins but are much more absorbable.

However, he still needs a lot protein(to grow) so I wouldn't do this just yet(unless he can do both, which a guy his size might be able to), but it's certainly an option.

LakerLanny · Retired Number Joined: 24 Oct 2001 Posts: 47580

How about Sasha's patented foul the guy 80 feet from the basket with the team out of fouls play?

It isn't like it is a surprise, that seems to be one of his specialities (along with trying to touch his teammates faces with his hands all the time, ugh)

I think there should be a special Emoticon for Sasha's patented play (fouling for no reason with the ball on the other side of halfcourt and the team out of fouls), I would suggest a toilet flushing.
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Love, Laker Lanny

Omar Little · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:30 am Post subject:

wolfpaclaker · Retired Number Joined: 29 May 2002 Posts: 58336

^
Lanny as crap as Sasha can be at times, you have to admit in the last 2 weeks he's finally doing what he's supposed to. Shoot - and shoot well. I think he's up to 39% now and this is all because he's shooting around 50% the last 2 weeks.

Season is a marathon. We all know Sasha isn't 1st round pick material but if he gives you anything .. it's a bonus. He is in the right role - finally. Not a backup PG. Third string PG/SG who gets 8-10 minutes at most. If he continues to shoot well, you play him. If he stop shooting well, you DNP-Coaches decision his ass.

LakerLanny · Retired Number Joined: 24 Oct 2001 Posts: 47580

MIMLaker · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:58 am Post subject:

A Mad Chinaman · Star Player Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 6142

magic_bryant · Franchise Player Joined: 16 Oct 2002 Posts: 18179

Bynum was killing the offense in the 2nd half with his indecision. It was like watching the Kings of yesteryear, when things would be going so well, then all of a sudden Webber would start holding the ball 5-7 seconds at a time. And that is what I was talking about earlier this year when I mentioned Bynum is a "ball-stopper" in the offense.

Really needs to stop that. It's a bad habit that is hard to be broke. (Webber, Kobe, etc)
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Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

Freakout · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:26 pm Post subject:

RYZ · Star Player Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1393

Thanks, DB.

A couple things: As hot as Bibby got at the start, Farmar had a hand in his face on almost every single one of those shots. To Bibby's credit, he knocked down some tough ones, nearly all of them contested. Contrast this with Smush's total lack of interest v. Bibby; his loafing around the court trailing him; and his typical sluggish stumbles through and around sceens, and you've a really poor second half defensive effort against Mike Bibby. Phil has to recognize that despite Bibby's performance against him, Farmar was the only one challenging his shots, and get Jordan back in the game at some point in the third quarter.

The other thing is that Phil is clearly afraid of young players ie. Bynum. It's like he's sitting there the whole game waiting for Drew to confirm his fears, and when Bynum slips up, Phil comes with the quick, sometimes untimely hook. When he subbed Vlade for Bynum at the 2:40 mark of the fourth, as much as I could see it coming, I still couldn't believe it. How in the world, when you're desperately clinging to a shriveled lead, can you take out your only rim guarding presence, unless you replace him with Turiaf. Now granted, Bynum was not playing pick and role well, but for a coach who is famous for not panicking, there's one glaring exception: young players. Let him play and learn Phil.

There's no coincidence between Bynum starting and the Lakers not falling behind early for one of the only times in the last month. Shot changing on 'D', and an honest to goodness low post triangle hub on 'O' are very stabilizing forces for this team, even if they're eminating from a 19 year old.

DancingBarry · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:47 pm Post subject:

DancingBarry · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:58 pm Post subject:

DancingBarry · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:03 pm Post subject:

DancingBarry · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:16 pm Post subject:

D Nice · Star Player Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 1933

I'm surprised you gave Bynum a positive "review." I thought he was just god awful, one of his worst games (#'s don't tell the entire story). He had half a foot on everyone he saw and was as tentative as could be. Then, when he decided to make a move, he waited really long, got happy feet, and turned it over. On the pick and roll he gave open layup, one after another to Williamson, and wide open shot, one after the other, to Shareef.

Which brings me to another point. Why does Drew just NOT get out on shooters? I mean Shareef, Kristic, Murphy, etc, have all had ample open jumpers whenever Bynum has been on them. And instincts/mobility is not an excuse, because he is mobile, long, and as we see in the paint has good shotblocking instincts. Is he just lazy?

I know we've been piling on Kwame lately, but we saw, in this game, why we need him so badly. Drew can't defend the pick and roll/pop to save his LIFE.

TheProdigy · Star Player Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 1847

Kwame is such a great defender that he gave up 3 consecutive dunks to Okafor on the exact same play right? Look, with the way the refs were calling the game, Bynum can't afford to be as aggressive. He had to back off Bibby so much that it affected his ability to recover. Ronny gets a lot of leeway from the refs, yet he still picked up 4 fouls in just 10 minutes.

Now, I'm not saying Bynum's pick-and-roll is great or even good, but it's nowhere as bad as it appeared in this game. Plus, it looked like from the side that the Kings ran the pick-and-roll that the guy from the corner should have rotated down.

D Nice · Star Player Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 1933

wolfpaclaker · Retired Number Joined: 29 May 2002 Posts: 58336

DancingBarry · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject:

I think I pointed out all Bynum's shortcomings. At the end of the day, he had 15-11-3, with some young player mistakes. I don't think I'd expect too much more from him at this stage. He's going to have issues on any given night, that will be par for the course. I agree Kwame would have been a better match up because he can deal with the PF/SF types that Bynum had to go against. That is a very, very tricky situation for Bynum at his current stage of development. I don't think a lot of people quite grasp that. He's going to have a difficult time with their foot speed if he crowds them on the perimeter. Phil also told him to specifically stay back to deny penetration on those screen-rolls. Whether that is because Bynum is weak at show/recover or whether that's how Phil wanted it play is tough to say. He does have a weakness of not getting out to contest plaers sometimes -- I've brought that up on numerous occasions -- but last night was a little more complicated than that. The one time he did crowd and contest on the perimeter, they took off on the dribble and drew a foul on him. The Kings used the opportunity to their advantage and obviously never posted up like true post players would. On the other end, Bynum hasn't developed the strength and power yet to dominate. A year or two and he will destroy this type of match up.

...And yes Kwame and company got chewed up by the exact same high pick and roll...over and over again. Like Kwame said, the team as a whole stinks at it. I went on at length about what they needed to do after that Bobcats game...the same holds true here. Can't just heap it on one guy, it's systemic at times and they are often not on the same page (so to me, that becomes a coaching issue to some extent and a talent issue depending on what they are not doing). How they finally stopped it in the Bobcats game was with the third helper rotating off his man. They didn't get that last night with any kind of consistency.

Seemed to me a pretty average game from Bynum against a tricky match up. He is definitely still learning on the job, and he will be at that stage for a while. He's not going to give you an "automatic" anything right now, not at his level of greeness.

angrypuppy · Retired Number Joined: 13 Apr 2001 Posts: 32754

^
Not to mention Phil having lectured Andrew to stay out of foul trouble. That may have robbed him of some aggression at times as well.

magic_bryant · Franchise Player Joined: 16 Oct 2002 Posts: 18179

Bynum just doesn't play with aggression. Goes through the motions too often. Against any other team, and we lose that game as Bynum holds the ball waiting for someone else to make the plays.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

20,000 · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject:

Holy crud! it was late here in MI, and when Kobe did not get the call, I thought the game was over, so I went to bed.

And the Lakers won?!?!?!?!?!??! I avoided LG like the plague because I did not want to admit the loss.

Aaaaahhhhhhh!

Now I feel like an effin idiot!
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

DancingBarry · Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:47 pm Post subject: