Following is the quote from John Black in the LA Times:

"For us, he probably would play more at the two-guard simply because that's a less crowded spot for us," Black said. "The only two-guards we have are Kobe Bryant and Sasha Vujacic. Even though his most natural position is point guard, we're a little crowded there."

What is he talking about? If he is referring to a position that features an aging Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar, who can best be described as "untapped potential" versus a position that featues the best basketball player on the planet and arguably our second best offensive weapon, he has got to be kidding. If Yue can play the point, give him the keys!

Long Time,

Good points on Fish, BJ and Kerr, but if you read my post, I stressed the fact that the league is changing into a PG oriented league. The Bulls teams had Jordan and Pippen (who played the point) in their primes, and the Lakers had Kobe and Shaq in their primes, while playing in the triangle, a system that does not require a true PG. After Kobe's Lakers (hopefully) win 4 more rings, the next dynasty will be led by Bynum, along with an aging or retired Kobe, and most likely will be without Phil, Tex and the Triangle. The importance of an elite PG will be more important in the future than it is now or in the past couple dynasties. Unless we are fortunate enough to land another once in a generation Kobe-type player (unlikely) or Lebron, an elite PG to pair up with Bynum will be crucial to the success of the next dynasty. I just don't see Farmar fullfilling that role.

I don't undersatnd why you insist on bringing up Kwame to support your arguments. He is known as one of the biggest flops in draft history. For every #1 flop you bring up, I can bring up half a dozen success stories like Dwight Howard, Yao, Olajuwon, David Robinson, Kareem and Ewing. I understand that the draft can be a crapshoot, but please don't ty to minimize the value of college/high school performance and POTENTIAL by bringing up Kwame. Drafts and trades can be entirely based on potential. Potential is a crucial component to evaluating a player. Nobody said potential meant 100% success, but potential will drastically increase the probability of success. In other words, the probability of Derick Rose becoming a better starting PG than Farmar is high...very high. That's all I'm saying.

I hope I'm wrong, and Farmar turns out to be the next Chirs Paul or Deron Williams. I just don't see it.

Let's go c's--

Is there a celtics blog that we can all go troll on? BTW, I just read that Kobe got a HUGE ovation in China. I wonder if thay gave a similar ovation to paul pie--oh wait, he's not on the olympic team, he's too busy driving drunk.

Long Time Laker Fan/LAKER TRUTH,

You two may be onto something.

GO LAKERS!

I agree with the people who say you don't have to literally be the best defensive team in the league to win a title, but you certainly need to be an upper echelon group. The Lakers were, relative to the league, a very solid team on that end of the floor for most of the season. In the Finals, they ran into a team that certainly "out physicaled" them (is that a word?), but I like that they didn't freak out and do anything drastic this summer. Come back with a (fingers crossed) healthy roster and a year's worth of experience getting that Finals run and see what happens. A healthy Ariza and Bynum certainly would have made a difference. Enough to win? Who knows. They were pretty close even without them. Nor can you assume that because "x" happened last season and was a problem, it'll play out exactly the same way this year. Matchups, needs, etc. change every year. The Lakers need to get a little tighter as a unit defensively without losing that which makes them so good as a whole.

As for Sun, there's no real downside to this one. I can't say I have high expectations that he'll be a part of the rotation, especially early, but given their other options to fill the guard spots, is he going to be any less useful than any of the FAs available (that they can afford, of course...)? Probably not. Hopefully he turns out to be a surprise. Certainly from a physical standpoint, he's a unique package.

BK

Long Time Laker Fan

Your break down of the finals is spot on. I have been posting the same thing. M T seems to think he can break down all 6 games by watching one. Pretty weak. And he doesnt seem to understand that Pau is now our PF not our center. And when guarded by Bostons PF K.G Pau went off for 19 pts 13 rbs and 6 assists. And I really do not know how Pau could be THAT soft when he pretty much controled KG for most of the series on the defensive end.

As for LAKER TRUTH, just remember if he had his way we would have started J.O and Troy Murphy this year and would have been a lottery team.

MH

LakerTom,

Yeah, there are some structural elements which are similar between Sun Yue and Shaun Livingston, and I appreciate your optimism; however Shaun Livingston looked better than Sun Yue when he was in high school than Sun Yue looks now.

Shaun Livingston could also pass the ball like few people in the NBA. I've heard that Sun Yue sees the floor well. I hope that's true.

I guess I just don't have a lot of confidence in players from China. Wang Zhi-Zhi was supposed to be the bomb, but he didn't pan out. When Yao Ming came over he was supposed to be the heir apparent to Shaq, and don't get me wrong, he's a great player, but Bynum and Oden are going to be better than hiim next year.

So, I think we're taking a bit of a risk on Sun Yue, hopefully I'm wrong. You mention a lot of upside to Sun Yue, but I don't see it so much and I think you may be watching through rose colored glasses.

In any case, I'll be playing close attention to Sun Yue's play in the Olympic. Hopefully he impresses me.

GO LAKERS!

I think chemistry and athleticism are also good defensive strategies which rest the hopes of Team USA today in the Olympics. If the chemistry of Bynum, Pau, LO, Kobe and Fish works, then the other options in the bench like Farmar, Sasha, Karl, Ariza and this kids Sun and Mitchell, I think that's enough to comouflaged the disappearing acts of Vladdy, Luke and Mihm for 48 minutes time. What we cannot understand why a 9-ringed Coach kept on playing people who are more of liabilities than the developing raw talents. I hope we can sign the last player, Mbenga as an insurance to Mihm, he may be slow but he's a martial arts player he can be trained to be Kwame's wall or bring in Turiaf's energy. Since the HOF coach lost the Finals, it's time for him to LISTEN and finally recognize talents than trying to do the impossible of expecting too much from scrubby players like before: in playing Smush as a starter for 80 games, in insisting on Kwame as a fundamental post player and now kept on plugging Walton to guard Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Ironically, PP thinks he was the best player in the planet because he just drove by against the worst laker player during the Finals. lol!

Long Time,

>>>>>You can't base your entire analysis of how well the Lakers
>>>>>played defense on 1 game of the finals. In the series as a whole,
>>>>>the Lakers made the Celtics offense play worse... just not as
>>>>>much worse as the Celtics defense made the Lakers offense
>>>>>play.

It’s good to have you on point. If anybody has the doggedness and tenacity to continue lofting logic bombs at Mike, it’s you. You wore me down, that’s for sure. And believe me, that is something that happens very often. The biggest thing I learned from playing basketball was that you can make up for a hell of a lot of talent by just caring more and playing harder. LOL. Sound familiar?

I’m almost feeling sorry for the poor guy already. It’s one thing to get cleverly insulted by Pig and the other “troll patrollers,” but to stand in front of the torrent of facts and waves of logic that you will unleash on Mike deserves to be turned into broadcast live to Lakers bloggers everywhere,

>>>>>Yeah, that's right. grind-it-out tough American guys are a
>>>>>guaranteed title. Guys like Charles Barkley and Karl Malone.
>>>>>Not skinny rail thin guys like Tayshaun Prince and Scottie Pippen.

I have been making that exact same point that the model player for this generation of NBA player is more Lakers than Celtics. The new NBA rules and trend clearly show that length, speed, quickness, and athleticism rather than size, strength, power, and physicality, is now the new NBA prototype. Kwame Brown ironically reflects some of that same changing of the guard sentiment, which makes it difficult for Mike to handle.

And how do you best utilize that length, speed, quickness, and athleticism when you have a shot blocker like Bynum? You surely do not play the Celtics pack-it-in-the-lane passive style of zone. Instead, you play an aggressive tight man-to-man defense that traps and presses to force turnovers and ignite fast breaks, knowing that Drew is protecting the rim.

It is also the reason IMO that Jordan Farmar still has a chance to become the Lakers starting point guard in the future. But when you talk about the length and speed and quickness, Sun Yue is truly intriguing at 6-9. We may not get to see much this year but it’s obvious to me that the Lakers are a lot more interested in Sun than his second round draft status would suggest.

Tom

Jon,

>>>>>I guess I just don't have a lot of confidence in players from China. Wang Zhi-Zhi
>>>>>was supposed to be the bomb, but he didn't pan out. When Yao Ming came over he
>>>>>was supposed to be the heir apparent to Shaq, and don't get me wrong, he's a great player,
>>>>>but Bynum and Oden are going to be better than him next year.

I know exactly what you mean. None of those guys was Bruce Lee. They are all talented but soft players in the end. And I don’t necessarily mean “soft” as not being physical but it’s more like they don’t try as hard or care about it as much. It’s not life or death to them as it is to us. It’s why I still am hesitant about Chien-Ming Wang. I don’t know how to express it other than to say it is too much control of emotions and not enough wearing your heart on your sleeve. It’s a big cultural difference. You always want to root for players who share your origins. Thank God for martial arts.

Part of it is also growing up with fighting as the natural way of settling disputes rather than insulting. We’ve talked about this before. How my son has had one fight in his entire life. He is pretty good on the court and won’t back down but he also won’t go to war the way I do or did. Truthfully, he has a better perspective of the situation than I have. Personally, I am addicted to the adrenaline high you get from the competition and have always taken it too seriously.

But back to China’s players, what can I say. You’re dead right. I once asked my dad why he didn’t marry a tall black women rather than a short white one. LOL. There but for fortune. Anyway, I do really see some very intriguing things in Sun that differ from the other guys. For one, he is a perimeter player whereas all of those other players were front court players. Two, his game is much more USA than China, what with the fancy behind the back passes, aggressive dunks, and a pretty impressive sequences of great Kobe-esque blocks at the rim against Melo and once when he had to run Mike Conley of the Grizzlies down from behind to block the shot.

Most critics were down on Sun’s shooting last year, now it seems that the critics are focusing on has ball handling, saying his shooting has improved greatly. It may take him some time to adjust to the speed and physicality of our style of basketball, but with that height and length and athleticism, Sun Yue could be the prototype point guard down the road for the Lakers.

Tom

Boston MANHANDLED the Lakers and now you think it didn't happened?

Give me a break.

Looking at your post I see this is Laker Tom.

Who else could justify the manhandling Boston did to the Lakers.

Just drop it.

mike t.

Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 08, 2008 at 04:37 PM

===============================
How quickly they forget. Yes the Celtics manhandled the Lakers but also note it was all done with full approval of the BETS. No way was this a fair and impartial series. Wake up and smell the coffee. That is the real truth. Greenies manhandle the Lakers no fouls. Lakers try to retaliate and play rough but only need to touch a greenie and get foul called. Truth is the truth.

Suprised no one is talking about this story! Anyone thinks there is a legit chance this goes down next summer. If it did an end to any possible mini-dynasty!

"If Italy comes knocking with big money next summer, the NBA could lose its biggest star in Kobe Bryant. In lieu of a report that Cleveland star LeBron James would strongly consider playing in Europe for $50 million for one season when he becomes a free agent in two years, when asked by The Boston Globe about the report Bryant said he would take a similar deal by a pro team in Italy if offered when he becomes a free agent next summer. The Associated Press originally reported that Bryant could have interest in playing professionally in Europe. "I'd go. I'd probably go," said Bryant, during a USA Basketball press conference on Friday morning. "Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up or something like that? Peace out." Bryant continued: "Do you know any reasonable person that would turn down 50 (million dollars)?"

>>>I don't undersatnd why you insist on bringing up Kwame
>>>to support your arguments. He is known as one of the
>>>biggest flops in draft history. For every #1 flop you bring
>>>up, I can bring up half a dozen success stories like Dwight
>>>Howard,...

Michael Olowokandi, Andrea Bargnani, Kenyon Martin, Joe Smith,
Derrick Coleman.

You're right. Virtually every #1 pick is guaranteed to be a
superstar hall-of-famer and franchise player.

Jay Jay,

wakeup, you can add college players into the group as well, but then again our college players who go pro, aren't "hindered" by having to play 4 years...eventually, those with the desire will adjust, those that don't....."D-League, here I come!!!!"....or outside of the US....unfortunately there they will be hindered with having to do math, to figure out the exchange rates of the money they are getting paid...they'll screw it up, and get it backwards and call their agents.....or bitch about it with their posses.

Sasha

You may be confusing me with another blogger. I was never for trading Kobe, never really thought it would happen. ya like a lot of guys I had trade senarios if it came to that but if you go back and read the things I wrote, I definetly didnt want him traded, As far as Smush, What? And Cook 5 to 10 minute guy. I mean where are you coming from Dude? Get your facts straight.

MH

Chris the Catherine Zeta Jones of Backups Mihm,

regarding Sun's height, check out the you-tube video of the Laker pre draft workout, they measured him at 6'9" and 217....he's young still, so he could probably grow an inch still, and gain about 10-15 pounds easily. That would make him Magic size....I think Magic was listed at like 6'7" out of college....not sure....as for all the talk about Shaun Livingston, why bother, I think that's a closed chapter, end of story. What did he weigh when he got to the Clippers? 190 lbs?, if that!!!

Heya fellas,

long time reader first time poster here.
I was thinking about potentially cheap free agent pickups Lakes could make for another big body off the bench, besides DJ and Mihm ( who kinda reminds me of mike smrek for some reason)

These are the names I think are worth considering:

Juwan Howard solid guy, more offensively minded, $760K

Lorenzen Wright good back up, has been a starter, could be a bargain

Jamaal Magloire big body, decent skills, 30 yo, $230k

Melvin Ely young big man could learn a thing or 2 from Kareem, I don't think he's in NO's rotation, almost $1mil.

Kelvin Cato should clog up the middle a bit

Othella Harrington banger i guess

Doleac decent backup, made > $3m last year(no way we give him more than $300K)

would be nice, but less likely

David Harrison restricted FA, Indy prob wants to keep?

dik/zo

I'm sure this post belongs under an earlier topic, but I figured I would go with the newest post in case anyone wanted to comment

LTLF,

You're confusing stats with reality regarding defense.
If you have the best team in the NBA statistically speaking
and you play in the weakest division then your defensive
numbers can be skewed by the weak teams you're playing.

In football, there is the concept that there are 3 keys to
winning. Offense, Defense & special teams. I suggest
that there is a corollary in Basketball. Offense, Defense &
Free Throw shooting. In football, if you win 2 out of the 3
keys you generally win. I would suggest that the same
is true in basketball. If my offense is much better than
yours and my defense is almost as good as yours and I
make my free throws, I *should* win. If my defense is
much better than yours and my offense is almost as good
as yours and I make my free throws I should win. The
C's played defense in such a way as to minimize the
Lakers free throws. Thay played much better defense.
They made their free throws. They won.

I love the positive sentiment, but can we call a spade a
spade? The Lakers were soft and squishy like 3 week
old fruit and got punked on international TV. The C's
prevented Kobe from going to the whole by playing
TEAM defense. Everybody got back. The Celtic role
players broke our backs. Which means that it wasn't
superstar efforts like MJ's 55 pts against the Suns.

The NBA really needs to do something about the salary cap now. European teams will make the "Garnett Money" standard look like chump change. Bye bye Kobe, Lebron, etc...

Those of you who are expected to scout Sun during the Olympics are going to be disappointed. He doesn't even start for the Chinese national team and doesn't play a lot of minutes.

Apparently he also made the all-ABA first team a year ago, but then the ABA is such a joke that I don't think it should count for anything.

Does anyone know what time the mens basketball team game will be on. I know its CBS, but everywhere I looked it said 10am-6pm, so somewhere in between there, but does anyone know an exact time.

Xodus,

You wrote: Everyone just wants to remember Game 6 and keep saying the word soft.

Ok. Give me one example of the Lakers playing "hard" ?

*I* recall Pau Gasol getting his chest caved in while getting the
ball "TAKEN" away in during Game 2 or Game 6. There was
no anger. There was no retaliation. Just a soft euro player
pleading with the ref to do something.

I'm not just remembering Game 6. I'm remembering Games
1,2 & 4. Soft and squishy like my

Jon K,

You didn't like the 2008 Tai Chi practicioners?

i'm a long time lakers fan and i want kobe to be a laker for life. however, if you think about an nba superstar in his prime playing in europe? basketball is already one of the growing sports in the world but it would greatly help boost the popularity of basketball.

Sonny B-

Funny line, but with an unprintable. Sorry I couldn't put it through.

BK