Andrew still hasn't gotten the coach's message to put more energy into Defense. That's where the team needs him to be most aggressive. When Andrew accepts that, he'll finally be ready to take his place among the All-Stars.

Another 85 degree day in LA...Guess it's time to hit the pool get a mai-tai and re-read the article about Lebron coming to LA to play with Kobe and close my eyes and dream for the rest of the day.....I love LA!

BD

Sounds good to me. Good call NBA4Ever!

Good morning Mamba, LakerTom, Jon K, Justa, and everyone. Hope you're all having a good day so far. I know I am, cuz its game day!

BTW, great post NBA4ever. IMO, the triangle is supposed to have everyone be an option for the spacing to work correctly, ones with the ball and one's without. Kudos on getting mentioned in the post.

Good Morning Everyone...

NBA4ever had it spot on..Gasol will make Bynum better..

Re Rondo...The guy is a fantastic player..But....He just does not seem very mature at all..

Andrew Bynum is not Pau Gasol. That is not a slight. There are few players in the entire world that are on Gasol's level. If you ask me, the offense runs better through Pau than any other player on the Lakers roster (including #24). Try not to shoot for that one. It is one of the reasons Pau's minutes were so high last year. The whole thing just works better when he is out there.

Even still the Lakers can get by without him for a while. Let him rest up. Also, this is a chance for Andrew to really dig in. He can't learn how to pass out of double teams unless he spends time on the floor actually seeing the doubles. That kind of stuff does not come in practice. Many of us fans have harped on Bynum's development. Well, there is only so much kareem can teach him. This give Andrew the time on the floor to actually learn the smaller more important things.

This kind of on the floor learning could pay huge dividends come May and June.

All in all, no game, no player, no call can ever be seen in the same light whether you're buying what he's selling or not. I personally think that even if some of it is embellished and even if there are a few discrepancies, it will be incriminating enough and believable enough to cast a seriously dark shadow over the NBA. If David Stern is going to make this right, he's going to have to make NBA referreeing the most transparent, accountable profession in the world and do a nearly complete overhaul of the current system. I won't be holding my breath. Posted by: puddle | November 03, 2009 at 10:31 AM

Actually what he's saying is what most of us expected all along. As long as their is some kind of consistency that's cool. Even if you are going to consistently call for the other team, just be consitent with it. I'm pretty sure it's no great blockbuster to the players. That's why Michael Jordan would pal around with them so he would get the calls. Of course since he was the League Franchise he was going to get the calls anyway. Whatever, Good posts brother and thanks for alerting us to the article, I probably would have missed it.
Mamba24

mornin' #4, mamba, puddle, rick, thirty2, everyone...!

Looking forward to the game & live chat tonight. NOTHING better than GAME DAY when you're a Laker fan!

NICE, NBA4ever...!

puddle - regarding the overhaul - yah, holding your breath would be a complete waste of time. Not gonna happen. When Stern does something like this that would actually BENEFIT the game instead of changing rules to change the game into something else, I will.. well, I don't know what I'd do... probably die of a heart attack. Seriously - what a tool.

I'm getting a bit worried about the State of the Hammy. I hope it's not as bad as it's starting to look & sound. Good to have Pau resting, but we need to create some chemistry with him & Thriller.... I'm not panicked, just concerned.

GAME DAY BABY!!

GO LAKERS!!!

Nothing but another title will suffice.

NBA4ever.
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I agree that it makes more sense for the Laker to run the ball through Pau in the high post to take advantage of his passing and playmaking ability. That doesn’t mean we don’t hit Drew or Kobe or any Laker who can post up and seal his man deep in the paint, just that going through the Spaniard is the best way to run the Triangle Offense. It’s that pass into the post to a center like Pau that sets the table for the rest of the team. Pau facing his man up at the free throw with Drew ensconced in the paint.
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phred,
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You are right that Drew and Pau need to learn to work better together. Realistically, they have not really had that much time on the court when both were at their peak. And I definitely don’t prefer that Pau is injured and unable to play. I was basically just making lemonade out of the lemons. If any player could benefit from sitting for a couple of weeks, it would be Pau.
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Like any great team, the Lakers can win any game even without Kobe Bryant and maybe even a championship without Andrew Bynum or without Pau Gasol. But they run best with all cylinders working in harmony, something we still have not had the pleasure of seeing. Their chemistry, rotations, and general karma are best when none of the major pieces are missing – meaning in my mind Kobe, Drew, Pau, or Lamar at this point – and hopefully Ron Artest as the season develops.
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As for the record and home court, I don’t think that is going to matter to this team. If they have Kobe, Drew, and Pau at their best, they will dominate the NBA playoffs. Ron Ron will become Lamar II.
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Tom

Gooooood morning Blog-O-Maniacs!

Been away for a spell as I was in Indio for Halloween and far away from all computing devices in my life. I was rocking out to the Phish. Happy (belated) Halloween, Laker Lovers.

Excellent take on what Gasol means to this team, I missed Thursdays loss, but I watched replays of Sunday's game and the team looks slightly out of sync. Odom has played well, Bynum is playing well, Kobe...well c'mon, and the bench has been decent (especially Powell), but our pick n roll D and our flow on offense seems lacking to me, even in wins.

Bynum is a more adept defender and offensive force 10 feet and in from the rim. He does have his little free-throw line jumper that I'd like to see him to continue to work on. But if you bring him out into the thin air of the perimeter, he lacks the foot speed to meaningfully defend the pick n roll. He's trying, he just can't get back under the rim fast enough to disrupt the pass or alter the shot.

Powell is hitting his shots and doing fine on the glass, but he's more of a proto-typical power forward from the days of yore. He reminds me of Horace Grant. Artest is having trouble with his shot, but is playing fine defense and I would say he's trying too hard to fit in. He reminds me of how Odom played his first year with Kobe. Very tentative, thinking too much. That will dissipate with time.

Odom looks great, he's as aggressive as he was in the playoffs, might be a bit 3 pointer happy, but if he's hitting them it makes his drives that much more lethal. Walton is playing in his game, Farmar is still forcing the issue and Brown is looking like he did in the Finals. He's backing up FIsh and the three of them are a Hydra of a PG.

But without Gasol, this team looks like a lot of one-on-one guys or spot up shooters waiting for someone to get them the ball. This could be because Lamar generally starts out on the perimeter and makes something happen off the dribble, same as Kobe and we're lacking that crisp interior passing that Gasol provides. He also is a good outside shooter, so if he comes out of the post, his man has to follow, so it opens up the lane for all of our guys who can get to the rack. Bynum doesn't go out that far, therefor making it easier to cover a secondary player for the opposing center.

I think that Jackson has made the most out of Gasol's wealth of skill and talent and that without it, it's like taking the nitrous out of your funny car, it just don't run the same. This is nothing against any other player on the squad, it just illuminates how valuable and under-rated Gasol is.

I hope he comes back soon.

"Like any great team, the Lakers can win .......maybe even a championship without Andrew Bynum or without Pau Gasol"

Without Bynum, Lakers have already won a championship and made it to back to back finals. Gasol is a necessity, Bynum is a luxury.

OK OK SO I WAS REMISS, NBA4EVER, LAKERTOM, PUDDLE, MARCO, I HAVE TO SAY IT...
OUT FREAKIN STANDING!!!
mAMBA24

Puddle et al re Tim Donaghy-

I’m going to phrase this as a question because I don’t know the facts for certain- Didn’t Tim Donaghy testify about alleged game fixing under oath? Didn’t the media and the NBA already have access to what allegations he made? And does it seem likely that any new ‘revelations’ in his book would either constitute an admission of perjury during his trial or be new ‘facts’ he has manufactured since then in order to increase book sales? I think this is part of what Random House was thinking about when they cancelled the publication, but if anybody knows the answer to these questions, I would appreciate hearing them.

Bynum's offensive game is strong and getting stronger, without a doubt. My concern is his inability to get position for rebounds. He is rarely seen boxing out the opposition, instead relying only on his length to reach over them. A player with his size and strength should be able to get better position than he does.

The only way it happens would be if Magic Johnson made him a partner... then you could say he's likely to earn back the difference in business ventures that he would not be able to do otherwise

Since this is the Lakers 50th anniversary and Fox Sports West recently ran the Lakers 1972 championship game, I decided I cannot stay quiet on this any longer. Why is the final 4 minutes or so of this game not shown? Every showing of this video ends abruptly this way (including the copy in the DVD set). We do not see the final minutes of the game, nor do we see any of the ensuing celebration. For those of us who felt the pain in the 1960’s of losing in the finals time after time, the 1972 team has a special place in our hearts. How is it possible that such an important event in Lakers history is missing this footage?

Marco and the rest of Bynum will be better than Gasol Bandwagoners:

So Gasol, who has argueably been the best Power Forward of the league during last year and took a major role in winning the Ring with the Lakers, already reached his max of being a second option BECAUSE he did not play as a true first option in Memphis BUT we can give some credit and hope to Bynum to be the number one option in the Lakers because he still did not prove us wrong. I don't get it.

I can almost guarantee that I have seen more Grizzlies games that anyone on this blog so PLEASE stop blaming at Gasol on Grizzlies performance. GASOL is the best player to ever play for the Grizzlies so far and most likely will have his Jersey hanging from the FEdEx Forum someday. Gasol got to the Grizzlies being a 21 year old lanky international rookie when the Grizzlies were just transferred from Vancouver to Memphis. From day one Gasol was supposed to be a number one option on a a very poor roster (please name one player that you would have added to the Lakers squad). Gasol was the only one to take the team to the playoffs.

Gasol is the second option on the Lakers, OK. Is there any player in the league that would be our first option with Kobe on the roster?

Gasol will never be superstar like Kobe Bryant, LBJ or MJ but he could get to the same level of Dirk, Garnett or Duncan.

Gasol proved that he can be a first option playing for Spain where he is among other titles, World Champion in 2006 and Olympic Silver medallist in 2008 (almost beat the US team on the Olympics).

Gasol also proved that he could adapt quickly to the team and to the triangle. This is not easy and I seriously doubt that any top player would be able to take that role and benefit the team better.

The whole reason I wrote the post about Bynum not being a #2 option was in reaction to the game against Dallas. He seems to stop then immediately make a move to the basket or pass; he doesn’t wait for the play to develop. He seemed to clog the lane and didn’t allow for Kobe or Lamar to drive, whereas Gasol spreads the floor better when he’s in there. That doesn’t mean I don’t think that we shouldn’t post him up frequently. I just see how much more efficient our offense flows with Gasol.

I think the game tonight proved exactly what my point was. In the first half Bynum was 8 for 10, almost all of them were easy baskets from passes set up by teammates and off of put-backs. He is a more dominant player than a skilled player, his game feeds off of playing with skilled players. I am a huge Bynum fan!

My main argument for Gasol would be when Kobe goes out of the game you can go to him more consistently. In this game tonight we saw that, but we also saw why there is no question once again why Artest was the better choice. Artest was that go to guy for us in the 4th quarter while Kobe rested, and then he shut down and intimidated Durant on defense.

Marco

In no way was I “being a little hard on Bynum”, like BK said “It's not a dig at Bynum, rather a recognition Gasol's role in the offense”. Bynum is dominant this young because of the team he plays on. I don’t think Bynum could of carried those Grizlies like Gasol did then, and he certainly couldn’t compete with Gasol at this stage in his career if he was on those teams now.