Justalakerfan,

same here! lol.

Lakerbake,

>>>>>Hey LakerTom who I credit for being positive all last summer
>>>>>during the LAKERNATION summer of hell.

>>>>>Here is the genie out of the bottle, quiet as it's kept,
>>>>>KENDRICK PERKINS outplayed ANDREW BYNUM
>>>>>both times last yr in the regular season.

>>>>>I hope that Bynum works himself back with a vengeance and
>>>>>commands a Celtic and League wide Double team.
>>>>>That along with more defense will make us CHAMPIONS at last.

>>>>>He needs to make Gasol and Odom CLEAR after thoughts.
>>>>>The DOUBLE TEAM he commands will make that clear.
>>>>>We would be a game planning nightmare for coaches.

I think I told you earlier that the two Lakers games I missed all year were the two against the Celtics – family and business obligations. Did Perkins really outplay Bynum? Or was it more of the same that saw the Celtics team outplay the Lakers team? Or was it Tom Thibodeau’s defense using the refs and the rules to defend against the Lakers?

At any rate, I am confident Andrew is not only going to just come back as good as he that he is going to come back even better after sitting and watching and yearning to play for half of the year and all of the playoffs. He will come back as an unstoppable beast on offense, defense, and the boards.

In the games I saw during the two months before Drew was injured, there was no doubt in my mind that Drew was the physically dominant force on offense and defense in every game, whether we won or lost. He had learned how to stay on the court, how to block shots, and how he could soar above the rim to grab any rebound or lob pass he touched.

And nobody in the league, including Shaquille O’Neal finished with more power or authority or physicality than Drew did. Not Amare, Duncan, Jermaine, Kaman, Camby, Chandler, or any of the other NBA centers and power forwards he abused and dominated. So you will have to forgive me when I hear that the Lakers are soft and need help. I would love to take a bet on how Perkins does against Drew this year. How about it? jk.

To me, that’s just the story du jour by the idiot sports center newsmakers and analysts who never played the game and don’t really know what they are talking about – a simple answer to a much more complex question. A couple of plays or breaks here or there or one more player and one less having a good series and it would be the Celtics hearing the questions and listening to the overreactions that always follow championship series.

Tom

LakerBake,

You've got me seriously fired up to acquire Gerald Wallace.

I'M READY RIGHT NOW!

WHERE DO I SIGN??!!

LakerTom, sclakerfan, others,

The question of Celtics versus Lakers rosters is an interesting one.

I think one confounding area is the major changes in the Celtics from the beginning of the season to the end.

Rondo stepped up big time. There had been significant talk about him not being good enough and that, decent as he was, they needed to find a replacement with superior talent.

Perkins improved as well.

The whole team's defense, with Garnett's insane fire at the lead and under the tutelage of brilliant tactician Tom Thibadeau improved and changed the team big time.

PJ Brown and Cassell came in to provide very solid relief minutes.

Posey stepped up big time too though his improvement he was more expected than anyone else.

It's important to not confuse this Finals Celtics team with the one that started the season (good as they looked like they'd be).

So, main matchup of Kobe/Odom/Gasol versus Allen/Pierce/KG. I like the Celts here. Kobe is better than Allen, significantly so. Pierce is similarly superior to Odom. KG is a lot better than Gasol. And I think Gasol is quite good. I think Fisher-Rondo is close. I think any of our SFs versus Perkins makes Perkins a huge favorite. Wouldn't have been the case if Ariza had had a healthy month. I realize I'm cross-matching here.

The Lakers bench looked bad in the playoffs on road games. I didn't watch a lot of the Celtics bench, but after they improved it with PJ Brown and Cassell, I think it was similar to the Lakers.

Once the Finals actually rolled around, LakerTom explained it perfectly. We were outplayed and outmuscled with our starters. The Celtcs veterans showed our inexperienced guys what was up.

We played worse than I expected. And how the Celtics suddenly got it together after going 7 games in their first two series, I'll never know.

Okay, back to not thinking about that. Let's think about improving the team and enjoying watching us kick ass all next season.

JustaLakerFan,

Thanks for your support for the Lakers absolute need to sign Bynum this summer.

>>>>> Now for those of you that said don’t sign him, no problem,
|>>>>>just let him become restricted FA we can match offer.
>>>>>Well there is a problem in first if
>>>>>we have to match offer then the cost may be more.

The even bigger problem is that if the Lakers do not sign Drew this summer, they will not have another opportunity to sign him until he becomes a restricted free agent after next year, the 2008/9 season. That is why the priority is to sign Drew this summer.

And Drew will NOT go to go out and get offers for Lakers to match once they tender a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent. Instead, he will accept the qualifying offer and play out the 2009/10 season so that he can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of that season when many NBA teams will have cleared maximum cap space to be able to sign LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, or Chris Bosh, all of whom have options to become unrestricted free agents for the first and only time in their careers at the end of the 2009/10 season. It is like the ultimate time to become an unrestricted free agent.

Don’t think that Drew’s agent and the Lakers’ front office don’t realize this. That is why the Lakers will do whatever is needed to sign Drew to an extension before the October 31st deadline. It’s their only real option. Anybody who thinks otherwise is wrong.

Tom

Benjamin: Sensitive, aren't we? Lighten up francis.....
I lived on the East coast when Artest was playing for Pacers and saw him play quite a few times at MSG and in Indy. Yes the Pacers had good individual players but they were not good teammates. It happened to OUR beloved Lakers with 4 legit all-stars. And I still seethe about it every time I see my Lakers 03-04 basketball signed by all of them.

My bottom line on Artest is that IMO he is just not ready to be a teammate, sacrifice and really take his game to championship level. He still wants the cash. And now look at Brand - same thing.

While I don't like talking about the C's - you have to admit, there were a lot of guys that were willing to make the sacrifice, got their minutes, cut their $ and do what it took to get the O'Brien. That's what impressed me more than anything.

It's great to have the cash but I bet if you ask PJ Brown what's better - he'd take the trophy any day.

Wth respect to Laker Tom I will reply to this.

LakerTom,

>>>>>Mitch does a great job of dealing with player egos and >>>>>as a result, players have only good will for him and the >>>>>team right now.

This strikes me as a little bit revisionist history. Mitch couldn't keep Shaq and Kobe happy and had to lose Shaq. Mitch couldn't make Shaq work hard.

[Mitch? No that is the coaches job. (remember the previoss sentence) Coach took sides which made matters worse.]

Mitch almost lost Kobe by telling him he'd surround him with championship caliber talent and then surrounding him with Odom, Walton, Kwame Brown and Smush Parker.

[odom is fine and is championship role player, Luke is PJ's boy, Kwame Brown most everybody thought he was the answer including Pippen (I know a secret), and Smush who was a PJ project.]

Mitch couldn't deal with Smush Parker's ego.

[ That is coaches job. That sentence again.]

Mitch couldn't deal well with Gary Payton either. Payton screwed us over by not showing up to his physical and forcing us to alter our trade at the time.

[So when is that Mith's fault. For that fact Payton screwed the entire organization including the coach who is frontline of management dealing with players.]

Mitch didn't deal well with Brian Cook's ego, nor with Kwame Brown's ego. Both played far below their potential.

[That's the coaches job]

Mitch gets a lot of credit for things he's done well like drafting his whole career and trades this season. But, I really think it's almost surreal to suggest he deals well with player egos. I see absolutely no evidence to suggest that's one of his skills.

[ The fault with that is you blame Mitch for PJ's short commings. Mitch did make a mistake alright he hired PJ. Ooops that was J. Buss]

In that regard he is no Jerry West. Few people are. The logo commanded a unique respect you just can't get from other former players.

[ You also forget how many other teams kept trying to hire Mitch away from Lakers. And yes few people can replace a legand and that is because the legand is a legand. Think UCLA on how many coaches have come and gone since John W. But Mitch has done a great job. ]

Posted by: Benjamin | July 08, 2008 at 11:07 PM

Lakers 2008 = Soft.

Get rid of Lamaronny Waltmonivich and fill their positions with thugs. Mamba, AB, Pau, Fish, JF and Sasha can handle the actual basketball while the thugs take care of the tuff.

BTW, a foul is not a foul when you play for a team from the no-talent Eastern Conference. Think of it like the DH rule in the American League. The National League doesn't have the DH and the Western Conference doesn't have the mugging allowed rule.

Also, Boston plays an illegal D every time down the floor.

Minor changes aren't gonna cut it. No tuffness and no D equals another finals loss in 2009.

OK, can't we think a little more long term here. How about waiting one season and then Artest is a free agent just as Lamar's contract ends? Then he can be signed for nobody and still have some room to resign Odum (kinda like the Brand, Davis thing was supposed to go down) but maybe we also resign him. Any trade now for Artest now is for ONLY ONE SEASON. A little patience here.

Mitch if you can read this!!! pls pls pls get rid of walton , minh and radmanovic. I know signing walton for 5 million a year was a big mistake. That money should belong to turiaf. If you can get artest without gettin rid of lamar do it. because i really dont see any toughness in pau, but i do see it in lamar. so pls pls pls

No how about Luke Walton, Chris Mihm and Vlade for Ron Artest not Farmer and Trevor, that would be crazy for the Lakers to do but they really need to make this trade somehow and to me those four have to go Luke, Vlade, Odom and Mihm.