It's not just Kobe and Pau getting some dap
(UPDATE: Talk about your fantastic timing. I just got an e-mail from the Lakers media relations department. Sun Yue is now officially under contract. It's a "multi-year" deal, which I'm guessing means "a pair of years." More details as they come, but that news was awfully convenient in arrival).
Laker-to-be (presumably, if nothing else) Sun Yue also garnered himself some praise for his work during the recent Olympic tourney. The guard led all Chinese players with 2.3 dimes per contest while chipping 8.1 ppg, stats that combined with the kid's handle, size and general versatility to help create some buzz about his NBA prospects. Chris Paul--certainly a reputable source for point guard praise--liked what he saw. Yue also earned admiring words from a certain future teammate, one who's seal of approval is always a plus.
"I think he's very talented, actually," said (Kobe) Bryant. "I was very impressed by him. I think he has great size, great length, good shooting touch, good ball handler, good vision, good pace. I was surprised at his size right off the top. He was able to handle the ball. I tried to test him a little bit, see if he could go left, go right, that sort of thing. So I like him."
Like a lot of Lakers fans, I'm curious to see more of Yue up close and
personal (the bits I caught with the Chinese team included promising flashes, but nothing mind blowing, either). Assuming he's
actually signed- terms may have been agreed upon, but nothing is certain until the ink hits the paper- I'm
figuring his rookie season to be more about potential than production.
Between presumed starter Derek Fisher, presumed backup Jordan Farmar,
plus the triangle's fluidity- which often leads to guys like Kobe,
Lamar Odom, even Luke Walton (in a pinch) running the offense- the lead
guard "role" isn't exactly hurting for bodies. Sasha Vujacic is also set for some plentiful minutes backing up the 2 spot (I'll go
out on a limb and declare Kobe's starting gig as 100% secure). So
unless Kobe spends a decent chunk of time at the three, certainly a possibility, there's not much spare
backcourt PT in general to go around. And despite his height, I'm not positive Yue has the muscle to play small forward, and with the log jam the Lakers have there, it would be hard for him to make a dent, anyway. Throw in the fact any language issues, just one of many situations that could make necessitate an adjustment period stateside and in the NBA, the odds of Yue making a quick splash strike me as low.
But again, if he doesn't play a ton, that's still fine. I don't expect him to, nor do I consider a plethora of DNP-CD's a "disappointment." It's about the potential, and what he does do during his scattered moments on the court. How he fares if Phil Jackson offers him a gut check opportunity during a meaningful moment of a game. Andrew Bynum and Coby Karl were put in these situations. It's not out of the question Yue could get tossed into similar spots, moments that can be used to evaluate what Yue might bring to the table down the road.
If the road is shorter than I'm anticipating, hey, so be it. I'd be more than happy to have misjudged this and see Yue contributing in a key role right away. I'm simply keeping my expectations mild. And despite the solid showing overseas, I would advise Lakers fans to do the same.
AK
Off topic...but what the heck is Memphis thinking?
You think they decided one day...ok we'll go with a 5 of guards. Whoever one pans out stays!
Crazy lol.
Posted by: Faith | August 25, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Long Time Laker Fan,
If they do trade for Michael Redd, then Kobe will start at the 3. Kobe loves playing the 3 and played it quite often last season and especially the playoffs and moved Sasha at the 2. It's kinda double edge sword, since Kobe's offense is better at the 3 (he is faster than most small forwards) but he will be going against Lebron, Carmelo, and Paul Pierce. His defense assignment will be tougher and it might sap his offensive energy going against the elite Small Forwards. It is good for us as well because it gives a veteran shooter in Redd and defenses will be in a pickle over who should give priority to guard (Bynum?? Pau?? Kobe?? Redd??). I dunno how Redd is on personal defense though. It also gives Buck's an expiring contract with a solid player in Odom and I"m guessing if it happens they move Jefferson to Shooting Guard and Lamar at Small Forward.
Might be a good deal, if it happens. Btw where did hear that John V?
Posted by: thekobebryantblitz | August 25, 2008 at 10:12 PM
hobbitmage.
Thanks for your comment. You're probably right.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | August 25, 2008 at 10:19 PM
MoLaker....
Language barrier??? I found some interview he did on youtube and has a very good grasp of English. Which is more than we can say for shaq.....(in his mumbly) interviews....look....Sasha, VladRad, and that forward we had a few years ago who shot, shot, shot (obviously he didn't understand the word "pass", what was his name....oh yeah, Medvedenko.....people, please do not focus on language as being Sun's barrier. If his basketball IQ is high, then it doesn't matter what his SAT scores were....I'm sure someone must have already addressed this, but I just got home and your post was on top, and I gotta get some sleep...Sun will be fine, the Lakers are a very international team now, so I think the coaching staff is used to teaching by showing, and demonstrating. Yao Ming had a translator with him his first year. Kobe talked to Sasha in Italian, because that was their common language, before Sasha picked up the language. Sun will do fine in communication, and for those out there that want to critique him NOW before he's even met his team and coaches, then you are putting extra pressure on him, Do not try to pinpoint what he is and what he isn't. We don't know yet. Personally I think that being part of the Chinese National teams at times, I think his talents were held back. Knowing English did not help Devean George as a Laker. let's give him what I call the "star trek" treatment....give him time and space. Goodnight all.
Posted by: humanomaly | August 26, 2008 at 02:54 AM
I do not get all the hysterical enthusiasm for Sun Yue.
I think Faith summed up the situation best.
I wonder if the term "The Chinese Magic Johnson" has made people confused. That's like calling Yao Ming "The Chinese Wilt Chamberlein".
I've seen Magic Johnson. I've known Magic Johnson. And, Sun Yue, you are no Magic Johnson.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 26, 2008 at 07:09 AM
Blitz,
I responded on da latest thread to ya pippen wasn't on jordan's level rant.
Posted by: Taliq | August 26, 2008 at 07:51 AM
LO for Redd????
I have to agree with Long Time on this one. Doesn't make any sense. Sasha is just as good a shooter as Redd. Check his stats.
Financially?
Redd has 3 years left on his contract where he gets paid 15.5 - 16.5 - 17.5
That puts the Lakers into lux tax penalty and beyondo. LO's expiring is way to valuable for the Lakers to trade up for more penalties.
Posted by: Fatty | August 26, 2008 at 07:52 AM
Good morning Lakers faithful!
Sun Yu-e
Watched the films with his ABA and National team, particularly the blocking film.
Film doesn't tell all, but like Mitch said, he has some unusual abilities, enough so to get a multi-year contract.
1. 6'9" pt guard (PJ likes 'em tall)
2. Very long arms combined with quickness makes him a premier shot blocker (similar to AK47)
3. He his a hustler. Many of his blocks come on the other teams fast breaks. Others came on recovery blocks and a few on weak side help.
Don't think offense with Sun. Its his defense we need. The quickest way to a coaches heart is hustle and defense. Sun is exceptional with both. Sure his passing is good, but Luke can pass. We need D.
Will he get playing time in the Lakers system? You bet. With all the big leads the Lakers will be getting with our dominant team. Lakers scrubs should see plenty of time to grow their NBA game.
When you have to draft high like the Lakers are doing, and lux tax strapped. You have to take chances with projects. For sure Sun is a project. But an interesting one at that. As Mitch said, he his intriguing.
How he adjusts to the little quick guards of the NBA will be very interesting. Can he stay back against them, to nullify some of their quickness, and then recover to block shots when they do get by? If he can do that well, then he may be more like Magic than you think.
Posted by: Fatty | August 26, 2008 at 08:22 AM
I'm definitely not sold on Sun Yue. He's got some decent all around skill and athleticism for his height, but he needs to hit the weights. He looks real weak out there. Fisher would break him in practice.
He didn't really impress me in the Olympics while playing for a mediocre team either. It's not like there weren't opportunities for him to make more of an impact in the Olympics. All China has is Yao.
Yi Jianlian hasn't responded well to the NBA so far. I think Sun Yue will probably have the same problems as Yi is having with the NBA adjustment. They are just too weak physically.
Lamar for Redd??
Take away the salary cap, and I'd make the deal. Redd is a very good player and could give us that second perimeter player to match up with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, but his salary is way too high and his contract is too long.
Signing Andrew Bynum has to be the priority. Getting Redd would make signing Bynum very difficult with the salary cap.
Here's a question for anyone who might want to answer it:
There is concern that the Andrew Bynum/Pau Gasol front court might not work. If it doesn't work, my dream is that we would be able to trade Gasol for Chris Bosh.
I'm definitely getting ahead of myself here, but the thought of Chris Bosh in a Laker uniform is super enticing to me.
The salaries match close enough.
Is this a good idea? Is it possible? Can Chris Bosh be considered less soft than Gasol? Do you guys like Bosh's game better than Gasol's when it comes to fitting in with the Andrew Bynum and the Lakers?
Posted by: Rocky | August 26, 2008 at 08:45 AM
Jon K,
>>>I wonder if the term "The Chinese Magic Johnson" has
>>>made people confused. That's like calling Yao Ming
>>>"The Chinese Wilt Chamberlein".
Certainly there is some hyperbole in both statements. But
if Sun Yue comes as close to "The Chinese Magic Johnson"
as Yao Ming does to "The Chinese Wilt Chamberlain", then
he's a steal in the second round.
He's clearly nowhere near Magic's level of performance.
What he does have in common with Magic is that he's a
tall PG with good handles who sees the floor well and
does pretty well at getting passes to the open man.
Even with a lot of work I don't think he'll ever reach Magic's
level, but I think with a lot of work he could be a very good
NBA point guard.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | August 26, 2008 at 09:11 AM
>>>That puts the Lakers into lux tax penalty and beyondo.
>>>LO's expiring is way to valuable for the Lakers to trade
>>>up for more penalties.
I was trying to work the trade machine to try to make a deal
that made any kind of sense. But it's just not that easy.
I could see where maybe Milwaukee would want to do a big
salary dump to free up cap space for summer of 2009 or 2010.
And Redd for Odom makes sense on that front.
But after that trade, the Lakers big men looks like this:
C - Bynum, Mihm
PF - Gasol, Radmanovic, Powell
Not particularly intimidating when you get beyond Bynum
and Gasol. And both Mihm & Bynum are questionable health
guys.
The one way I could see it making sense for the Lakers
is if they got a healthy big back in the deal and sent out
one of their lower long term contracts. For example...
Lamar Odom and Luke Walton
for Charlie Villanueva and Michael Redd.
But why would Milwaukee do that? (other than to reunite
bff's Walton & Jefferson)
My feeling is that until they see Bynum on the court for
awhile, the Lakers wouldn't even consider trading Odom,
unless it was for a PF or a C. If Bynum turns out to be not
quite as back as his agent is so boldly stating, the Lakers
could still be a very good team starting Gasol and Odom.
But if they dump off Lamar for a SG, then it's Gasol and
Rad, which a huge step down.
I think the only reason they'd consider trading Lamar is
if the 3-towers front line doesn't pan out. And even in that case,
I can't imagine them trading him before the trade deadline.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | August 26, 2008 at 09:26 AM
PLease don't call Sun the " Chinese Magic Johnson " , I guess even at his prime, he is not even close to compare with MJ, he never self-proclaimed himself as the Chinese MJ, give him some time to play ,then we give him an evaluation, don't expect too much of him in the following couple of years to flourish. As a Chinese myself, I am excited to see Kobe so popular in China,and the Lakers signing Sun, it's great to see this " Chinese connection " happens.Go Lakers , go Sun ( Yue ) !
Posted by: Shum | August 26, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Dark Gable posted:
"Sun has played in Los Angeles in the ABA for the last 2 years, so he already knows the city and speaks decent enough english so he should be fine in that regard.
How he develops as a player remains to be seen, but between him and Kobe, the Lakers will have China on lock."
& doesnt the team get money from the salesof authorized (oooops, carefu we're talking China here) merchandise. Now that should add at least a few million to the bank account. So we can afford to pay LO what he "reasonably" wants on his next contract, and so down the line with Bynum, Kobe, and before you know it Pau's next contract. I still can't wait to see the other team looking around at tip off playing who's got who when we have Sun, Kobe, LO, Bynum and Gasol......don't worry, play big, play above the other teams,...then off our bench will come VladRad, Sasha. Farmar, Fisher (gotta leave one of our bigs in), and let these guys run and rack em'.....I don't believe that either the draft pick, or the guy they signed will have impact, or even make the 15th spot, Josh Powell was a good move, he has experience in the league, and he knows his way to work already. Just hope it doesn't pain him too much to have to walk past the Clipper Locker room and into the Locker room of a true contender.
Posted by: humanomaly | August 26, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Shum,
Welcome to the blog. It’s going to be hard to kill the Chinese Magic Johnson stuff, although I agree with you 100%. I am half-Chinese and Magic is my favorite player of all time and there will never be another. I look for Sun Yue to be a great pro. His style is very American and quite unlike the other guards on the China team. I am also thrilled that China loves Kobe so much. One Billion Lakers fans will add to our karma.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | August 26, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Sorry everyone,
I belong to a USC Trojans website and one of the posters there was passing along some info he heard regarding Lamar and that he was getting traded today. Wasn't sure who it was for. It was nothing solid. So I searched the internet and on one of the free sites for Lakers fans, a poster there heard the Lakers were gonna trade for Michael Redd today.
Neither of these posts were solid and as many have said, it doesn't make alot of sense. So, in effect, I was fishing to see if anyone here heard something on it.
Posted by: John Vallefuoco | August 26, 2008 at 11:26 AM
YOU FOLKS JUST WAIT, I'M GOING TO POST MY KWAME BROWN STUDIES IN JUST 3 MONTHS FROM NOW. I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING TWO YEARS, BUT I PROMISE THE WAIT IS ALMOST OVER.
YOU SILLY LAKER FANS KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE TRUE NATURE OF NBA BASKETBALL. TRUST ME, I HAVE STUDIED THE NUANCES OF BIG MAN PLAY FOR DECADES.
I'LL SHOW YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL WHY YOUNG BYNUM IS FOOL'S GOLD AND WHY PAU GASOL IS AS SOFT AS MY TOILET TISSUE.
DOOOOOOOOOOO BEEEE DOOOOOOOO BEEEEE DOOO
Posted by: Stranger In The Night | August 26, 2008 at 11:33 AM
That's cool, we'll just have him check Brandon Roy the first game of the season, nothing too brutal, see how he does first.
In all seriousness, I'm looking at Sun while bearing in mind how Sasha's career went. Sasha came in with slightly more expectations, and never emerged until this year. It might take Sun even longer to show anything impressive. After all, they are both tall guards who would have trouble with the athleticism and speed of NBA games
Posted by: Vonislav Waferdenko | August 26, 2008 at 11:40 AM
about LakerTom to AK on the subject of Sun.....
"Little risk with chance of big reward! "
Hey, that sounds like it came out of a fortune cookie!!!! It's ok if I say that because I'm 100% Chinese, born and raised in LA!!! I get amnesty to make jokes about my own race, a fact of life, I believe.I think LakerTom is in the top 25 of all bloggers, no, that would be a Paul Pierce way to insult him. I actually want to commend him. I believe LakerTom is one of the 5 best bloggers in the La Times Blogs, and I do not believe that I am the greatest blogger of all time (wonder what Paul Pierce was thinking when he was sitting on the sidewalk that Vegas night, probably handcuffed and backup called and coming in or arrived, due to his size)...maybe he was going to say "well Shaq usually......", to finish that sentence I would say..."well Shaq usually takes everybody out to eat, then eats them" For a guy who has so much stuff pass through his mouth, why did he have to ask Kobe about tastes. Well after the Gold, and watching the cerermony, don't tell me he didn't, he's gotta have a tv near his dinner table or bed (???). He was probably thinking that all the great play that led up to the gold victory was his credit. The fear he instills through the league makes every player out there a better player. Sorry shaq, the world does not revolve around you and your 3 point guards, check the map of the solar system, I believe in the center you will find "Sun".
Isn't today the day there was a rumor that LO was going to be traded??? Hope not.
Training camp.......
What's the first rule of Fight Club????
Posted by: humanomaly | August 26, 2008 at 11:49 AM
about referencing Sun and using "Rising Sun", that would be a no no to the Chinese people. Check out the history behind Chinese and Japanese relationships. It's not cool when Japan wants to take over your entire country, on it's way to taking over the entire world. Now why would anyone want to do that. If done, you'd be sitting there thinking "OK, I'm a little more powerful as Bill Gates, what do I do now....oh, I don't have to pay for my hair cuts anymore, I just take a shower and drive to the office in my ugly green 1999 Porsche puke green cabriolet".
Posted by: humanomaly | August 26, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Laker Tom, I have the same English name as yours , but I'm 100% Chinese from Hong Kong.I think Sun has the skills,but what he really needs is the toughness to hustle and muscle in the NBA games in order to survive.People already said he needs to do the weight lifting 2 hours a day immediately, I totally agree
Posted by: Shum | August 26, 2008 at 03:02 PM
This is my first time commenting on this laker blog. Even though I have being reading it. I am arguably Kobe Bryants best fan. thats talk for another day. I am here today because of the soon to be talk about Sun yue. This guy is perfect for the Triangle Offense. The only problem I currently have with him, he does not play good enough defense. I hope he improves soon. with magic working with him. the worst case for this guy will be 2nd string point guard. Mark my words. Kobe at the 3 very important for the next 3years dynasty. he is now 30 can catch up with the guys at 2 as he use to but will be more skilled and faster than the guys at 3.
Posted by: omatseye | August 26, 2008 at 05:00 PM
Shum,
>>>>>I think Sun has the skills, but what he really needs is the toughness to hustle
>>>>>and muscle in the NBA games in order to survive. People already said he needs
>>>>>to do the weight lifting 2 hours a day immediately, I totally agree LAKER
>>>>>TRUTH aka SASHA
Good to meet you, Tom. It’s funny that none of the basketball players from China seem to exhibit the aggressiveness and fierceness of some of the Chinese martial artists. It’s like we got Jackie Chan instead of Jet Li. LOL. Sun sometimes reminds me of a slimmer younger Jackie from certain angles. His sometimes has that same lopsided smile of Chan’s. And no disrespect to Jackie, who is a consummate performer and competitor – and nice guy.
I am sure that Sun will toughen up physically but at the same time he has the type of build that will likely become more wiry as he gets older rather than more muscular. He just needs to build up his ability to hold position against stronger players and the endurance needed to perform at the NBA level. While he is just 2 inches shorter than Lamar, you can see from his build that Sun does not have the body and bone structure to carry a lot of weight.
And I don’t think he needs to. His game will be height, length, speed, quickness, and athleticism. I agree with Fatty that Sun has the potential to become a great defensive point guard, especially with his excellent shot blocking skills. I see him becoming more like a taller and longer Michael Cooper or a smaller, quicker AK47 or Tayshaun Prince. He could make it tough for point guards to get shots and passes off down the road. Rather than hiring Magic to tutor him ala Kareem with Drew, I would hire Michael Cooper to school him.
Offensively, Sun is just the perfect combination for the Triangle Offense and the Lakers as a team because he has great height to see over the defense, excellent ball handling and passing skills, and a stroke that is bound to get much better – and he is not needed right now and can be seeded just as Sasha was to bloom a couple of years from now when Fish will be older. Additionally, you can see that Sun could remind fans a little of Magic in that he has a little flair for dramatics and hot dog in him but is also an outstanding ball handler who can run a pretty good fast break as well as finish above the rim himself.
It will take a couple of years for Sun to earn his stripes but it’s easy to see why the Lakers find him a very intriguing prospect. Like humanomaly commented, he is the Lakers fortune cookie: “Little risk with chance of big reward!” My gut says it will be big reward.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | August 26, 2008 at 08:03 PM
Well... anyone know if Sun can play the guitar?
Posted by: dave m | August 26, 2008 at 09:59 PM
Laker Tom, I agree with you that Sun's game should be height,length,speed,quickness and athleticism instead of just " muscles', imagine if he has the needed muscles with his height, I like his chance to earn more pt in this team.And it's impossible for Sun's build to become muscular like the African Am players simply by means of weight-lifting.Mental toughness,defensive minded, aggresiveness and fierceness are what he needs in order to excel .
Tom
Posted by: Shum | August 26, 2008 at 11:49 PM
Question for ALL Laker fans...?? What player on our current roster is tough around the basket for boards and
getting to the hole? in other words....are there any MEN on this team or is it all boys and KOBE ?
Posted by: arnster | August 27, 2008 at 11:04 AM
arnster,
that's a redundant question, we all know the answer, everyone needs to up their defensive intensity. Let's Go C........ompare the 06-07 Celtics to the 07-08 Celtics...that is what the Lakers need to do. INCREASE DEFENSIVE FOCUS. Work as well as a team defensively as the team worked so well offensively 07-08. "Who's got who?" does not always work...
Posted by: humanomaly | August 27, 2008 at 12:07 PM
OMFG! SO MANY SUPPOSED LAKER FANS! IM A LAKER FAN FIRST OF ALL! i hate hearing "gasol cant play d" in case you didnt notice he guarded denver,boozer,duncan , and then fell off against the celtics. we know garnett is slightly better, perkins is bigg. what do you expect when you put a skinny 7footer against two tall,big bball players. against denver who isnt physical, gasol looked godly. he isnt a banger but he tried and he said it" this will haunt me". hes a finesse big man with a soft touch. how will the lakers fall short if theyre healthy and have a true center in bynum, gasol as the power forward(still rebounding, blocking etc), odom at small forward(not ariza you crazy fools), kobe(best player right now), fisher/farmar. OUR SECOND UNIT/BENCH IS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER TEAM! why? farmar,sasha,ariza,s un yue(china experiment),walton(w as our starting small forward), VLADRAD IS OUR CURRENT SMALL FORWARD(odom moves here), mbenga(only 5 mins from him max). and being able to mix in starters and bench and alternating throughout the game will keep us competing hard and winning the battles on a nightly basis. i hope for a rematch in the finals with boston. i guarantee like old laker/celtic battles. the results wont be the same. stop complaining and enjoy the beginning of our title run. fyi all us laker fans are lucky bastards! GO LAKERS!
Posted by: bryan | August 28, 2008 at 01:05 PM
The D,
Alright. Of course. Totally makes sense.
Laker Nation,
Regarding the Farmar versus The Critter versus The Rising Sun argument...
I honestly don't think that anyone has enough information to make a strong argument either way.
Farmar has the most logical support because he's a hard worker, is competitive, and showed a lot of improvement over last year (thus establishing momentum), but still it's not a lot of information to make a strong argument in favor of his LONG-TERM future.
The Critter got traded in the middle of his freshman year.
The Rising Sun has been playing in the ABA and in China.
The two of them remain big unknowns with a lot of potential. Potential and a couple of quarters will give you 50 cents in a logical argument.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 25, 2008 at 03:36 PM
==========================
To jump in I think AK is on the right track. I say if Farmar was traded intead of Crit how much burn would JF get behind Conley and Kyle and now Mayo?
Crit gets less time because more pgs ready to contribute. What did JF have to compete with? Aging D Fish. Not good comparisons.
I think as I said before Crit will be better than JF as he is a better scorer, defender (stays in front of his man) and will improve with experience his ball handling and will not turn over as much.
Sun will be different than JF and will provide different skill sets which will complement JF skills. He is taller and better passer and can penetrate dunk or dish. Farmar is better shooter and speed is yet to be seen who is better. I think the competition will drive each other to improve.
Bottom line, time will reveal all, so the rest including me are all our opinions.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | September 01, 2008 at 10:12 AM
LTLF,
"Or could mean 3 years. Note that they signed Ronny for 3 years. The advantage to that is that you get full Bird rights at the end of the contract. Also, you get a player for cheap for 3 years."
All true. It could very well be three years. Like I said, I honestly don't know, but two was the number that first popped into my head.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | August 25, 2008 at 03:14 PM
================================
2 yrs was what was annouced as what was agreed to when agreement to terms was announced. I don't know what the final number of years on signed contract is but I posted that 2 years was not enough in my first post.
I stated rookie season not much burn especially playing for PJ. And to come into sophmore year when contract is up to have a break out year is not going to happen.
I suspect SY and his agent want a bigger payday sooner.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | September 01, 2008 at 10:20 AM
you have your opinions Edwin but to me it seems like you and even JustaLakerfan are blaming Phil for overachieving and making the NBA Finals. Yes that's right, overachievement, since we had no post defense (Kwa-may doesn't count) since Bynum was injured and neither Ronny, DJ, or even Pau could fill that gap. Kobe did also bring his teams to the finals but without Bynum for post defense we simply didn't have a chance. While I think we can always improve, Kobe has the best answer for improving the Lakers.
"Just Relax"
Indeed, we all have the pieces and a good and proven coach to guide (not bring, that's the job of the players) the Lakers to the Championship.
Posted by: thekobebryantblitz | August 25, 2008 at 04:53 PM
===========================
Hugo Boss err kbblitz
You are confused. I never said PJ over achieved. He totally sucked and was a failure in winning the championship with his poor decisions. His usual zen crud and mind games.
I said the players won inspite of him not because of him (overachieving or not). And yes it is the players job to win but the coaches job to put them in position to win by coaching and not let them figure it out crud.
Get it right man. PJ sucks and players played their hearts out but came up short with old no brains not helping.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | September 01, 2008 at 10:35 AM
As I mentioned before, I also included some lowlights to
balance things out a little - Sun Yue didn't have many real
stooopid plays, but he had a few and I showed them here.
enjoy.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | August 25, 2008 at 09:37 PM
======================
Great job LTLF. Really appreciate the work you did to get these vids posted.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | September 01, 2008 at 11:14 AM
Rick F,
"J-Crit never seemed to live up to his potential. "
You're absolutely correct. In half a season, after two years of college. On a team with Kobe Bryant at SG, a team which just paid Derek Fisher $5M to come back as their starting point guard.
Crittenden had not lived up to his potential when the Lakers traded him.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | August 25, 2008 at 09:50 PM
===============================
Can't live up to potential when sitting on the bench and JF getting most the PT.
Lakers threw him in whem Memphis would not trade w/o him in deal.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | September 01, 2008 at 11:17 AM