One down, three to go

I think it's pretty safe to say the Lakers WIN when Bynum plays. There is more than one way to skin a cat Mike.

Kareem won championships with his style. So can Bynum.

I think we can finally put the argument to rest. Kwame is going to have to work hard when he comes back to prove himself.

I want to give props to Mitch (cupcake) Kupchak

All the horrible things that were said. All the bad trades people want him to make and he stood firm. He stayed calm when the media and some fans were being impatient saying we need to bring in some magical veteran. The problem was, none of the magical veterans really gave a damn about anything other max deals. He never is too specific when he answers questions about the team, and that is also commendable. And when Kobe went around on all the talk shows embarrassing himself and degrading the Laker organization, Mitch handled things perfectly. I dont think that we could have a better G.M. than Mitch. We have an exciting team now, we're not salary cap strapped, and we have a team that will continue to grow for many years to come.

Also I want to point out that this is the happiest I've seen Kobe and the Lakers in a long time. IF we stay healthy, watch out!

Bynum is now #9 in blocks..

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?stat=nbablocks&league=nba&sort=blks&season=2008

Again, Mike T makes our case about Bynum:

>>"I saw the game and watched Wallace and Gray deny Bynum position all game long. Most of Bynum's points were off of put backs and lobs when Wallace and Gray left him to cover for their teammates."

All of which is already far more than we could ever hope from Kwame "The Walking Injury" Brown. There's simply no way Kwame ever pulls off any of that -- and definitely not on a consistent basis.

>>"Actually, I watched that, too. Gray did an excellent job on Bynum in the first half. The gamble was reasonable. Bynum got the majority of his numbers, points, in the 4th quarter."

Someone want to explain to me why it matters WHEN he got his numbers? Point is, he got them. Not only that, but it would seem to pose a problem for the Mike T Theory on Bynum's Lacking Strength and Endurance that Bynum was able to be effective so late in the game, and after so many minutes.

In fact, I was extremely pleased with it, because it showed another step in Bynum's progression, in two ways. First, it's the first time (in my recollection, anyways) that I saw Bynum being so effective so late in the game, and after playing so many minutes (usually he's effective early on, and then less so later in the game -- don't know if that's because of him, or because his teammates forget to keep going to him). And second, he had missed his first 4 shots, and then didn't take a shot for quite a while, but he brought it back and hit all of the rest of his shots -- 5 in a row. That's a situation where a young, inexperienced player could easily get discouraged, down on himself, etc., and never manage to get out of that funk. At the very least, he might find himself reluctant to shoot. Instead, Andrew regained his confidence, showed some mental toughness, and got back on track by hitting all 5 of the rest of his shots. Very impressed.

>>"I saw Wallace and Gray focus on Bynum and deny him position. They did a pretty good job. But in the end the Bulls aren't physical enough to maintain it for 4 quarters."

You're making the case for Bynum again, Mike. What you're saying is that these guys played him well, but he wore them down and eventually got the better of them. That's basically saying he won the matchup. So on the one side, you go on and on about how he's not strong enough to get position, but on the other, you say that the Bulls weren't physical enough to handle him for 4 quarters (and if Ben Wallace isn't strong, I'm not sure who is). So you're saying that in 40 minutes of play, Bynum actually won the physical battle against a tag team of Wallace AND Gray -- 2 on 1 -- and wore them down to the point that he got the better of them in the 4th quarter. Well, gee... sure sounds to me like he got the better of them, and not only with his length, since, as you say, they weren't physical enough to play him well for 4 quarters.

Also, that pokes another hole (once again) in your Strength & Stamina rhetoric. If Bynum is so weak, and so lacking in stamina, endurance, etc., then how was he able to win the physical battle against BOTH Wallace AND Gray? Seems to me like he might not be as weak, or easily tired, as you seem to think. Thanks for pointing that out for us.

I'm going to say this again: I'm not saying Bynum has reached a status of "Greatness" yet. I am saying he is very good. I am saying greatness is just inches away. And I am saying that he is way, WAY better than Kwame "Duh... what?" Brown. In fact, I'm saying that he has single handedly transformed Kwame Brown into nothing more than near future cap space.

And (wait for it!)... Doo-doo doo doo dooooo... I'm loving it!

OK, here's my thing with Bynum.

Remember over the last 2 years that I said the Phoenix Suns would never win the Championship because they play gimmic basketball? I said that because:

1. They don't play strong enough defense.
2. Teams don't play defense against them in the regular season.

That's what is happening to Bynum.

1. On defense he doesn't deny position. I say that when teams adjust to his shot blocking ability they will start slashing to the basket and the lay-up parade will resume. The short-handed Clippers didn't take advantage of it. And the short Chicago Bulls had Ben Wallace as their offense center.

2. On offense. Teams aren't really focusing on him. What that means is that we're not going to get a true read until teams focus on him. When teams focus on him then we'll see the truth of the matter.

What I'd like to see is teams play defense against the Lakers because it's the only way we'll see where the Lakers really are. When we can beat teams that are actually playing defense against us then we know that we're really good.

Until then, I say it's false gold that we watching. I say that because people are calling for Bynum to get more touches in the post. I say that's a mistake because he's not that good at creating his own shot. Most of Bynum's points come from cleaning up misses and alley oop lobs to the basket. That's not a bad thing but it's a far cry from receiving an entry pass, making a move to the basket, and finishing.

Give Bynum the entry pass on a consistent bases and you'll be crying for his head.

But for the last two games on the defensive side of the game Bynum has been getting a lot of blocked shots. So I do give credit where credit is due. Now if it lasts for the rest of the season then we have something really special on our hands.

But if it doesn't last for the rest of the season then what we have on our hands is a Marcus Camby or Tyson Chandler type player on defense. What that mean is this: He'll get his blocks and rebounds but in time he'll give up plenty of points in the paint. And that will lead to being a bubble team or 2nd teir team at best.

I base that opinion of the fact that Bynum gives up position too easily.

mike

How the hell Kwame prove himself when he doesn't even try hard to get back in to the game.

Got to see "The Show" in person last night and here are a few observations that wouldn't have been able seen on television.

The Good: Bench play. We've seen it all year, but what impressed me most was their play off defense. The bench created so many turnovers last night with all hustle plays. second chance points were also a factor since as LO and Bynum ruled the boards.
It was also good to see Kobe's demeanor with his teammates on the bench. I saw a couple of times where he got up and cheered Bynum and Ariza on after good hustle plays and put-backs. It's good to see KB24 smiling again.
These guys are better than expected. I was listening to ESPN radio and the praise for the team (title contenders!) and for Bynum(all-star for the next 15 years) coming from Chicago fans iis unheard of. Baiscially if your first name isn't Michael, and your last name isn't Jordan Bulls fans don't give up any complliments.
The Bad: LO. I know he had a double double, but it's these glimmers of what he can be that frustrate Laker fans. If this guy played like this every game, we would truly be the 4th best team in the West. DFish couldn't shoot a ball into Lake Michigan, and Bynum has to learn to play through the calls. Too much complaining like Kobe does after every foul. that doesn't bode well for a long careeer if he's considered a whiner as a 20 year old.
Overall: It was good to see the guys live here. The triangle offense was moving to perfection and the bench is shooting with confidence. Are we a top 4 seed? Not sure yet. If we can go 4-0 on this trip, and manage to beat Phoenix on Tuesday, I''ll be a believer. We need to stay healthy first and most importantly. If we could also drop Kwame's expiring contract for a proven vet wothout giving up LO, Bynum, or Kobe, that would put us into the top tier teams. Overall I say to be patient with this team, and we're one key move away right now. Better than I thought.

Tucker -

That was an excellent post...

I will save you some frustration though. There is no use in trying to argue your valid points with someone who uses quotes and speculation to make their points seem credible. A certain someone on this blog, is a spin doctor and gets way too much attention for it. Just ignore his/her posts unless you want to have a laugh.

"Marcus Camby or Tyson Chandler type player on defense."

A Marcus Camby type player on defense? Oh, the horror!!

Weren't we supposed to go on a long losing streak when Kwame got injured?
I could have sworn that I read that somewhere on this blog!?!?!?

False gold or fools gold is believing that Kwame Brown is a "warrior and future champion".
If Kwame Brown EVER wins a championship, he will have NOTHING to do with it happening.
He will never play a full season, never lead the league in any statistical category, never make the all defensive team, and never make the all-star team Not bad for a NUMBER ONE pick though. I don't care about his "BIG BODY".

Kevin Duckworth, Oliver Miller, Tractor Taylor, Mark Eaton, Charles Barkley, Charles Oakley, Rik Smits, Xavier McDaniel, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing,(just to name a few) all had Big Body's and forced their opponents off the block and didn't ever win a championship.

Weren't we supposed to go on a long losing streak when Kwame got injured?
I could have sworn that I read that somewhere on this blog!?!?!?

False gold or fools gold is believing that Kwame Brown is a "warrior and future champion".
If Kwame Brown EVER wins a championship, he will have NOTHING to do with it happening.
He will never play a full season, never lead the league in any statistical category, never make the all defensive team, and never make the all-star team Not bad for a NUMBER ONE pick though. I don't care about his "BIG BODY".

Kevin Duckworth, Oliver Miller, Tractor Taylor, Mark Eaton, Charles Barkley, Charles Oakley, Rik Smits, Xavier McDaniel, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing,(just to name a few) all had Big Body's and forced their opponents off the block and didn't ever win a championship.

great win by the Lakers..Bynum dominated and he is improving in every game he plays! i hope the refs don't blow foul calls against the Lakers when Lebronze gets tapped.

great win by the Lakers..Bynum dominated and he is improving in every game he plays! i hope the refs don't blow foul calls against the Lakers when Lebronze gets tapped.

AK/BK,

I guess you won't get sued for characterizing Cleveland as a "struggling" team due to their record, but a lot of the poor record comes as a result of Lebron missing a number of games. I saw Cleveland dismantle Boston on November 27 and I will be very surprised if the Lakers have an easy time of it in Cleveland. Not that I think the Lakers can't win, just that Cleveland doesn't really match my idea of being part of an "easy" road trip....

This says it all about the "WARRIOR":

Christmas isn't coming early for Kwame Brown.

He was supposed to travel on the Lakers' upcoming four-game trip, but Coach Phil Jackson decided against it because Brown "couldn't get on the floor and practice with us yet."

He has been trying to recover from injuries and boredom since Chicago center Ben Wallace tumbled into his left knee and ankle on Nov. 18. He has missed 14 games with moderate sprains and was acerbic when told he would apparently be skipping another trip -- which also meant more one-on-one workout time with athletic performance director Chip Schaefer.

"Usually Chip stays back and works out the guys . . . but you don't want to stay back with Chip. It's no fun," Brown said. "Whatever part of your body that's not hurting, you will work it."

This coming from not only a professional, but a number one pick...
Kobe should want to ship Kwame's a$$ out. I mean Kobe gets hurt and what des he do? He gets round the clock treatment, doesn't sleep and continues to work on his game(shooting jumpers at 9am last Sunday before the Lakers played the Clips), and PLAYS hurt.
What does Kwame do? He practically begs PJ to go on the road trip so he can have a week off and party in Chicago, Philly and the Big Apple.
How can anyone root for this guy???

KWAME BROWN IS A JOKE AND A DISGRACE TO THE LAKER UNIFORM!!!

I hope he is gone soon. The team has improved immensely without Smush and Cook, guys with bad energy, that hinder other peoples progress.
Kwame was just standing in Bynum's way!

Does anybody realize that without Sasha the Lakers probably lose to the Bulls and the Clippers? I've always rooted for Sasha, but I never thought he would be our savior. Go Sasha!!!!! Maybe Sasha can play small forward in place of Luke?

Roger

My onlu point is that it IS possible to win a championship when guys are bigger and stronger than you down low..You are making it sound like Bynum has no chance.

Bynum needs the ball more in the post. They try to find him with lobs too much. He can score with his jump hook off anyone in there.

With so many ridiculous statements in Mike T's last comment I don't know where to begin. Lets try this one for fun:

"But until he was surrounded by excellent players Kareem couldn't win anything but MVP awards."

That statement applies to anyone that has ever won a title. Teams don't win titles unless they have great players. To try and bring down Kareem b/c he didn't win titles by himself is just ignorant.

How about this one:

"Michael Jordan on the other hand made Scottie Pippen."

Wow, another classic line used by people that don't know much about basketball or that never actually watched Scottie Pippen play. Scottie was one the best all around talents the NBA has ever seen and he would have been a great player with or without Michael.

Or how about this wonderful statement:

"Bynum can't do what Kareem did and if he could he would be the focus of the team."

Way to compare a 20 year old to argubly the greatest center ever. Bynum is just as good as Kareem was at 20 and if you really watched Kareem like you say you did and/or you didn't have a man crush on Kwame and be biased against Bynum then you would know that.

And this beauty:

"It's Kobe's team."

Thanks for clearing that up for us Sherlock. Doesn't change the fact that Bynum is the 12th most PRODUCTIVE PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE NBA PER 48 MINUTES.

Fact is, Mike, Bynum does thing on the basketball court that Kwame can only do in his wet dreams. But go ahead, keep coming up with these crazy ideas about how much Bynum hurts our team because his rebounds and block shots are the result of his bad defense. You have no idea what you are talking about and everyone on this blog knows that.

We are laughing AT you, not WITH you.

I don't think those Hollinger rankings account for the injuries San Antonio has had to sustain. Right now, I'd put their odds somewhere around 60% to make it to the finals. I'd put Phoenix somewhere around 20% (maybe I'm being too generous to them, and too stingy to the Hornets).

What I liked about the Machine's interview last night is that he mentioned their focus this year is defense.

In other interviews, Sasha has said "the important thing is that the fans got tacos"... at the time I thought he was just being silly and playing to the fans. Well, after his interview last night, it dawned on me that he was dead serious. He wants taco games. You get taco games by playing defense.

I know they have a lot of room to improve defensively, and that's the GOOD news... this means our team can and most likely WILL get better as the season progresses.

Sasha having two solid games in a row. I like this.
More evidence that the Cook/Evans trade was successful on numerous levels. It meant more minutes for Sasha & Critter (who wasn't even dressing for games before the trade), and of course Ariza.

Whether we keep Sasha or not, his effort has been noted. He's trying hard, and he continues to play like this, great... and if he doesn't, great too because he's raising his value with every solid performance.

All this chatter about Bynum vs. Kwame.

Let me tell you something, Kwame makes as much money as Kobe on a per game basis. If you made as much money as Kobe on a per game basis, would you change anything? In fact, I haven't tallied out the numbers from the last two seasons, but Kwame might actually have a higher pay rate than Kobe.

I think that ends the Bynum vs. Kwame debate.

Lamar is more of a garbage man type of player. If he can clean up the boards and have a lot of put backs and coast to coast plays, great. His problem has always been consistency. We all KNOW Lamar can do it. The question has always been, will he do it?

I'm hoping so.

What's this talk about Kobe, his lack of leadership, his hoisting up bad shots, and such? YES, Kobe has been taking some horrible shots lately. Not all his shots, maybe 5-8% of his shots have been horrible. I've noticed more of them since that quadricep pull. Kobe needs to plug the leaks, and the team needs to plug the leaks in their offense too. He brings effort, intensity, desire, and still the most potent perimeter game in the league. It doesn't make him immune to constructive criticism, but most of the criticism hasn't been very constructive.

Right now, our play *should* have us at a 7 game win streak. I'm not too upset about the GSW game (I am as a fan, but objectively, we win that game 8 out of 10 times)... poor coaching, Kobe injury, poor clock management... fix the leaks and we win that game easy.

I've already noticed they're making an effort to plug those leaks. They managed the clock last night with deliberate thought.

Defense, defense, defense... this is why I'm hopeful for our team... their mind is finally in the right place, DEFENSE.

Still, Kwame does have the highest pay rate of anyone on our team. Anyone want to argue about that one?

"Isn't Marcus Camby the reigning defensive player of the year?"

Yes he is, as a matter of fact. Voted on by the media. But when it comes down to it he can't guard Tim Duncan. And Denver is in the top 6 in giving up points. If you heard the Denver announcers, last season, you would know that the Nuggets were giving up points in the paint like crazy. Even now they aren't considered a defensive team.

A lot of what I say about Bynum is based on what I just wrote, too. I've studied it! Marcus Camby gets blocked shots and rebounds because of his length.

But right now the Nuggets aren't better off with Camby as the defensive player of the year. You would think that with Anthony and Iverson they would be unbeatable with the Defensive Player of the Year. But they are beatable. In fact they're one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

I have studied Marcus Camby and Andrew Bynum. Mark my words...Bynum is false defensive gold just like Camby is false defensive gold, too.

mike

Mike T, you're saying you followed Kareem's career from his last season at UCLA throughout his professional career? and yet, didn't you also say you were recently in prison or ??? was that a joke? Jabbar was at UCLA in 1969, which would put you at 60 years old or damn close??? With the prison thing, I just assumed you were a kid but... I'm trying to get a handle on where you're coming from. Nobody can figure out this love affair you have with Kwame. Yes, everybody appreciates the power game he can bring but the dude... is a stiff, a functional stiff, more useful than most stiffs because we can use him defensively and for setting picks but still... a stiff...

If you saw Jabbar play, how can you possibly say Kwame couldn't learn anything from him? Jabbar played against ALL of the great Centers for a couple of decades including Wilt Chamberlain. Jabbar certainly studied them and knows the game probably better than anyone else alive... and yet... he can't teach Kwame a thing because Kwame is a power Center? You do realize how ludicrous that sounds?

It seems clear with Bynum's minutes being pushed up that the Lakers are seeing if Bynum can carry more of a full time load, if so, that frees them up to trade Kwame for something interesting. I'm thinking Kwame gets inserted in the starting lineup when he comes back and the Lakers showcase him a little, feed him the ball a few extra times/game to possibly get him some double-doubles, you'll be going crazy and then POOF! you'll wake up one morning and... no more Kwame... what will you do? LOL!

Mike T,
Your forgetting a couple things..Isn't the best defense a good offense? Bynum is light years ahead of Camby on the offensive side too.

Buy you know what's really funny? When I point these defensive things out about Bynum you people start with the Kwame bashing.

I have to laugh at that because I know it's not really Kwame that you dislike.

It's me that you dislike and you think that by bashing Kwame I'll get upset or something. LOL!

You people are really funny! LOL!

But I count on you to say dumb things otherwise I couldn't be mike t.

That's what separated me from the rest of you. You worship false gold. And I break the game down to its finest details.

mike

Mr. Teniente-

Do you allow guests at your Laker study sessions?