How good are the Lakers?

Five guys score in double figures and it doesn't even warrant a mention.

I was glad to see that the Lakers whooped on the clippers yesterday, becuase that warriors game on Friday albeit a great physical game- was a real heart breaker ( I should know I was there) I know it is old news now but at first I was pissed with Odom aswell but as I thought about it Odom played pretty good in that game (before the missed FT) remember if he was the main reason that we even had a shot in the end by taking it to the rack for an and 1, infact kobes shooting and Bynum coming in to in late in the 4th (did you see that dunk down the lane!!!!), and Radman basically becoming the invisible man were the true disapointments of that game (oh and the Turiaf free throws were just painful to watch). So with that it was great to see that the Lakers bounced back and just demolish the Clips.

AK/BK

The game on Friday had an attendece of 20,705. They say that was the largest crowd to watch a NBA game in California history. Is that true? I would have thought that old Lakers games against the Celtics or even Kings games would have surpassed that.

No mention of how that Maggette heave was totally illegal and shouldn't have counted? Why wasn't that picked up on by the refs when they watched the replay? Do they just watch the shot and not the 3 seconds that preceded it?

richtown,

The Forum back then only seated 17,505. That is why it's a record now. Staples Center Im sure is only about 19,000 or 20.

One problem I have with Mike T's theory is that Kareem was skinnier then Bynum, and he still managed to defend ok and win championships?

Once again Kwame demonstrates that he just doesn't have the fire to be a great - or even a very good NBA player. I know a blogger or two think that Kwame and his defending the rim are so vital to the Lakers - and while it helps the guy just is not a winner. Plain and simple. Defend him all you want, quote any statistic that puts him in a favorable light. Talk about how Drew gets pushed out of position and that it is only his 'timing" that allowed him to block Kamans shots. Whatever. Drew worked hard this summer and it shows. I will take Drew over Kwame any day of the week - even if his D at times leaves something to be desired. Kwames work ethic or the lack thereof to be more precise stinks. He doesn't want to stay back and work because Chip works him too hard? Poor baby - anyone of us would probably love to have the physical gifts Kwame was given and would do a better job of taking advantage of them. He has his moments that make you think he might be worth it keep around but comments about not wanting to stay and work to get better just make me angry. The dude is a waste of talent. Maybe he should just retire, take his money and open a bakery so he can have plenty of cakes to throw because evidently his passion for cake throwing exceeds his passion and desire to play basketball and improve.

Eagleboy

Since we are on the hail Bynum stream here.... (Deservingly so) Let me start of with the Kwame debate

Mike T's observation is spot on regarding Kareems Defensive timing on shot blocking. Though we all like to counter Mike's point about Kwame and his strength, it is true that Kwame seals the lane and uses his body better. (Maybe it's just the frequency of his posting but I will say Mike T is an integral part of the blog)

The big question mark for me regarding Kwame is his heart. I feel he shares the blank face passive care free look that Bynum had during his 1st 2 years. Not to mention his body is fragile due to the banging he does in the post. And his lack of offensive coordination drives me bats...

Bynum on the other hand has the desire to improve. And it shows this season what hard work can do.

I've noticed in about 6-8 games AB will shoot a face up shot with in 10 feet. Boy if he could develop that........ We should pass the nickname stat for AB.....

Do you guys feel that AB needs to learn to body up and use his lower body strength? Or is his lower body not strong enough? When we played the rockets, I saw a play where Bonzi boxed out AB? It look pretty bad. Maybe it was his lack of experience.....

But props to AB and I hope Kwame gets a heart like Turiaf (no pun intended). If not let's package something for Kwame - Luke - Lamar and get us that PF we need and good athletic fillers that can play D.

Michael A,
No. Thats definitely not the only problem I have with it.. Just one of them..

"I'm just so happy that we have Andrew Bynum on our roster. Jim Buss is starting to look like a genius drafting Bynum over Danny Granger. Granger had to be real tempting."

It had a Jerry West decision type making written all over it. Maybe Jim Buss was listening and learning all those years in the 80's and 90's..

There was Danny Granger and Sean May, both established solid college players with potential, how in the world would you have picked a 17 year old kid with little organized basketball eperience.

Ive been saying all along that if the Lakers stay healthy, they will win..They might not win a championship, but they will get past the first round.

Lost in all this great Laker Play, is Kobe's leadership. I believe Kobe is having the best year of his career in this department. He is way more focused on everyone else more than he is himself. Part of it is because The other teammates are playing so much better.

Fellow Laker Fans,

I've made it very clear on here how I feel about Kwame's game, however, we're going to need him to finish the season and for the playoffs. As crazy as it sounds, we need everyone healthy so that we'll be fresher and stronger down the stretch and in the playoffs. Kwame and Andrew will be an effective tandem at center for us and will be a nice changeup to throw at opponents. Everyone on here has to at least agree that a combination of Andrew/Kwame is better than Andrew/Mihm right now. Mihm just isn't right, a step slow and is becoming a regular on AK's bad section of games(including last night against Clips). Here's my major concern when Kwame returns. What will PJ do? Will he start Kwame again and send Drew back to the bench? The reason for my concern is that Drew is getting more and more comfortable and is building chemistry with the first unit and if Kwame returns to being the starter(I agree with AK/BK that who starts is not that big a deal since Drew may play more minutes and finish games)will that disrupt at least for a couple games the rhythym and chemistry established? We need our full compliment of players so that no one wears down during the stretch run. Go Lakers!!!

Charles,

The only thing on the basketball court that Kwame Brown does better than Andrew Bynum is move his feet on defense. It's not even about him being bigger or stronger, its about him playing defense with his lower body better than Andrew. However, Andrew Bynum has progressed more in the last year than Kwame Brown has his whole career and in very short time Kwame's claim to quicker footspeed fame will be gone.

And remember, even if a certain poster doesn't think that blocked shots and defensive rebounds are part of being a good defender, every other person who knows anything about basketball does.

Let's just list the pros and cons of both Drew and Kwame:
Pros for Kwame: size, athleticism, footwork(defensive)
Cons for Kwame: intangibles(heart, smarts), HANDS!!!!!
Pros for Drew: size, length, HANDS(Boy catches everything!!!!!!) smarts(for his age..I know he messed up reading PJs last second play that one game...Lakers shouldn't have even been in that position anyway), age(plenty of room for growth)
Cons for Drew: age, defensive footwork, still looks awkward on O w/ his footwork sometmes, stamina setbacks.

What I'm getting at is that if you could only put these two into one player you'd have a perennial all star/superstar. But we don't. Kwame does have his assets for this Laker team. We're doing fine now, but when Drew gets into foul trouble, Kwame is a good fit to hold the fort by just being a space eater, banger/physical presence. Size is always a premium in the L, but maybe not for 9mil for 4pts and 5bds. Again combine the two and you have a monster. What fans want is Kwame to improve like Bynum. Talent is not the question w/ Kwame its his desire to get better and to actually do it. Proof is in the pudding. Bynum worked this summer and is avg a double-double w/ now just getting starters minutes. So Kwame will continue to get the complaints because he has all the talent w/ no output.

zen- there is many problems with Mike Ts big body /physical play theory

1) as you mentioned many great centers were finesse players- KAJ, Bill Walton to name a few

2) there are only a handful of centers/pfs for Kwame to guard in the NBA who play a post up game- even Duncan to me is a finesse player on offense. That makes Kwame a role player not a starting nba center

3) there is no evidence to support Kwame is doing anything to guard the paint - no rebounds blocked shots altered shots etc

Be careful of the stats of the lakers record when Kwame vs Bynum start because it depends on many factors other than each starting- opponent, who else is on the floor etc

I believe the main thing laker fans need to know about Kwames importance to the team is how much they are NOT in a hurry to get him back playing.

Thats all I need to know.

Nemaia Faletogo

Nice post.

I believe Shower Socks is that good where he may blend with the first or second unit. Kwame on the other hand plays better with the first. The second unit sometimes aren't steady enough to work with Kwame. Or Kwame can't deal with it. Kwame needs solid vets to be around him (Fisher & Kobe). Having Sasha, Vlad and Kwame play together might be a bit like a 3 Stooges episode. Kwame would be Curly!!!

"The only bit of bad news for the Lakers' by game's end was that they lost Vladimir Radmanovic to two sprained wrists after he fell to the court in the fourth quarter."

Wha?? Is there an injury update on this?

A while ago on this blog, I wrote that I was extremely angry over the Butler/Kwame trade when it happened, but over time, I'd felt it was a good and necessary deal. I would like to report that after a thorough police investigation, we found the guy who dosed my hamburger with LSD, and I am now mentally stable again. That being said, I'd like to take back the second half of my comment and once again reiterate that I am extremely angry over the trade and will not get over it. I have a Caron Butler sunday game jersey sitting in my closet, and stopped wearing it out in public because I've had to explain to numerous people who tuned out the Lakers after the Shaq trade that a) my last name is not Butler and b) there really was a guy named Butler who played for the Lakers and that if you're interested, he's done pretty well for the Wizards since the trade.

Kwame, you seem like a good guy, but boy, do you need a hand and leg transplant.

I love to see Bynum DEMAND the ball while in the low post.

What I would love to see are some of those other players reward him by passing him the ball. More times than not, he has made the right plays.

This kid is ALREADY on everyones radar. Time for Bynum/Shaq part II...

Do you guys remember when Bynum DUNKED on Shaq and then was involved with some shoving afterwards?

Let's get REEAAADDDYYY TOOOOO RRRRUUUMMMBBBLLLLEEE!!!!

It looks like the Suns may be getting broken up.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/104663

Bynum Fan,

You referred to Kwame as "the cakethrowing champion." I am highly disturbed by this comment. How could you state that he threw the cake when we all know that WITH HIS HANDS......HE DROPPED THE CAKE!!

janaya

AK/BK.....I AM NOT A SPAMBOT!!!!

Good game.

Bynum has been performing well, but I don't know if he will be able to keep that pace for the rest of the season. We need Brown to help shoulder that load, because Mihm hasn't been really effective.

Sasha had another stellar performance, but I'd like to see him play that way during crunch time. He always puts up those numbers when the Lakers have a comfortable lead. I believe his nickname should be "Voodoo". Sasha "Voodoo" Vujacic. It has a nice ring to it.

Xodus,

"It's nearing the point where we've got to say Bynum is our second best player. Surely, he's our second most consistent player. "

I totally agree. You know what positive output you're going to get from AB. The 10bds are crucial. And to get it from almost two people is very encouraging. That is a major reason why the Lakers score a lot of points. More possessions more points-Duh! So I don't know whats the deal w/ the Kwame debate. He has his uses but lets just hope AB continues his growth.

Xodus,

I think Maggette is not only more physically gifted, but also more skilled in just about every facet of the game.

Do you honestly think if Maggete played on the Spurs and Ginobili on the Clips, Clips would be a little better off and the Spurs a little worse off? I don't. I think Maggette and the Spurs would be much better off, and Ginobili would be barely a blip in the NBA's archives. Maggette would be a perennial All-Star and not Manu. So are the Spurs good because of their 3 All-Star roster?

Just a rhetorical, Xodus. Something to think about.

Especially since I gots to bail for a while:-)

On Kobe- He is way more focused on everyone else more than he is himself. Part of it is because The other teammates are playing so much better.

Thats like the chicken or egg question- which came first?

Are his teammates playing better because Kobe is playing team ball or did Kobe starting playing team ball when his teammates starting playing better?

I vote for the former, rather than the later.

I see better ball movement and team play when Kobe is not in the game or handling the ball. There are several times each game he holds onto the ball too long and doesnt look to pass and the rest of the team is standing around. The "problem" wiht that is Kobe is so good he can do it effectively and score points but its a recipe for losing in the playoffs when teams start double and triple teaming him.

Even 9 rings has acknwledged the 2nd team has better ball movement than the first team, so he knows the issue with Kobe but hasnt mentioned his name specifically yet.

Ironically Kobe has said the same thing after serverl games this year so he must at least understand the importance of moving the ball, if not putting that plan into execution.

WHITE MAMBA 24 - Most teams in the NBA are penetrate and kick out to 3 point shooters including the 2 you mentioned San Antonio and Phoenix.

How is Kwame going to keep them out of the paint and prevent open 3 point shots?