Glad we won...I'm a little concerned about our bench production so far this year...any thoughts?

THE 81-1 BANDWAGON…
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Add a second straight impressive performance to Ron Artest’s growing Lakers resume. On a night when the zebras seemed determined to punish Kobe and Phil Jackson seemed determined to treat the game as preseason, Ron Artest came through big with his finest all around performance as a Laker, carrying the Lakers offensively in the 4th quarter as well as shutting down Kevin Durant, who literally came apart under Ron’s constant physical pressure, finishing the night with a pair of choked air balls.
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Give credit to the Thunder for putting out a great effort. I am definitely not as high as most about Kevin Durant but I love the Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha backcourt. They could develop into one of the best defensive backcourts in the league. Both guys were guys that I coveted at times for the Lakers, even throwing out some trade ideas to get their draft rights. They both get after it defensively. I thought Thabo did an outstanding job on Kobe, although the refs definitely helped.
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As for Kobe, what can you say. He is without a doubt the fiercest competitor in pro sports today. Despite flu-like symptoms, did anybody doubt that KB24 was going to dress for the game, much less persevere relentlessly from the opening tip to the closing horn. I thought it was interesting to note that the commentators brought up the point that the NBA general managers voted Kobe Bryant as the toughest player in the entire NBA – and Ron Artest as the second toughest. Toughness won tonight.
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Excuse me but why can’t the NBA give Kobe the same level of respect that LeBron and Wade get? Ignoring the heavy contact and bumping that Kobe got on those last two drives was criminal. You would think the refs worked for the network rather than the NBA. Similarly, the last two foul calls on Kobe were ridiculous. It’s like certain refs just have it out for certain players like Tim Donaghy says. Of course, if you didn’t watch the game and saw that Kobe shot 14 free throws, you’d wrongly think he got the calls when the reality is that he “forced” the refs to call that many by attacking the rim.
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I know the Bench Mob plays better at home but their performance tonight was dreadful. Jordan, Shannon, and Sasha were dreadful. Luke was puke. 6 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers, and 7 personal fouls. Part of the problem was that Phil once again put combinations of bench players out on the floor together who really had no chance to succeed. Players play better with better players. I know it is early in the season but players need some continuity to succeed.
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In the end, a win is a win is a win. That is what the 81-1 Bandwagon is all about, reminding fans that every game is just 1 of 82 games in the regular season. Perspective! When it all is said and done, the Lakers have really lost only 1 game and still have the potential to finish the regular season 81-1.
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Tom

so i read earlier about the bench and point guard situation and was curious about what readers felt about brandon jennings. i feel he can be had for 2 decent players and an expiring contract or something. i think he is a risk worth taking. although its still early in his career. he has talent.

also, chris paul is very unhappy on the NOH? when is he on the market again?

andand

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.

What are you all whining about? We won the game, period. And even if we have lost, no one could question, OKC played very well as a team defensively and offensively. The defense gave Kobe the lane to operate plus OKC bigs were anticipating a dish to Bynum on every penetration, reason why Kobe didn't pass it often in the second half.

Enjoy the game will ya!

Even though Kobe save the game tonight, I have to admit I got disgusted watching him forcing the issue too many times in the first half. I stopped watching the game. I hope Phil tells Kobe to take a step back at times. His bad habits doesnt seem to go away. This Laker team can be really dominant every game. I just feel that Kobe tries to do too much and takes a lot of the team game away. When he facilitates, the team dominates on both ends of the court. This team has a chance to win every game, escpecially when Gasol gets back. Gasol makes the game even easier for them. Kobe may be the best player in the NBA. But it's evident that Gasol is the smartest player in that team. We need him back soon. Go Lakers!!!! Just like Worthy or Norm Nixon said, they can't keep driving without GASOLine....lol

I was going to put all the kobe hating on here on blast but I'm like it's too early in the moring, too early in the season.

Instead I'll just like to remind y'all that we're missing our 2nd best player. That just because passing lanes are open in the first half to Bynum doesn't mean those same lanes are available in the 4th quater (they weren't). And lastly ya man had the flu, he had the turnovers, he had the clutch shots down the stretch, and most importantly we got the W.

We need Gasol back in the lineup sooner rather than later. Hopefully the MRI results are good.

All these guys are almost forty years old and suck! They are free agents . Mitch doesn't have to trade for them.

Lakers roster is fine as is. They won a championship. They didn't need to exchange Ariza for Artest but it is what it is.

Lakers should make a few changes:

1) Bynum number 1 offensive option. No more than offensive 3 sets without Bynum touching the ball low.

2) Gasol as number 2 option

3) Kobe is 3 and all around man. Kobe should average about 20 or 21 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds.

4) Switch Farmar and Fisher. Make Farmar starter and play extended minutes with Farmar, Shannon Brown, Kobe, Bynum, Odom on the floor.

Posted by: Kobefan in Cupertino | November 03, 2009 at 10:45 PM

Bowen/Horry/Kurt - all of these would do lot better than the above mentioned folks. Hope Mitch is able to do something before the deadline.

Did i mention that Greg Oden might be related to Kwame..

I too stopped watching the game when Kobe tried to win it all at the end. He needs to stop being the focus at crunch time (ball hog?) and become more of a decoy, drawing the double and dishing to a cutting LO, Thriller, AB, or spot-ups like Ammo or even DFish. All the other teams know that he will try to carry the Lakers, and their defense will always sag to him. All I'm sayin' is get the other players involved before it's too late.

sasha vujacic is dating maria sharapova??

http://www.insidesocal.com/lakers/2009/11/sasha-dating-sharapova.html

Anyone else worried about Pau returning in Memphis? Can we just sit everyone and take it as a loss?

Phil wanted a win last night more than he wanted to rest his starters, I think we will see the bench more tonight against the Rockets, weather their up to the challenge is another matter. Luke looked lost and missed a shot from 1-2 feet, Sasha was worthless, Brown had a few silly turnovers and was ineffective, and Farmar has speed but doesn't know how to use it. Powell is our most consistent bench player on offense, but is a defensive liability. I would love to see Morrison's expiring contract and Farmar's expiring contract traded for a GOOD point guard.

When fans see some flaws in the 2nd unit, there will always be bashers, criticisms and traders. We can't hide realities and become an ostrich burying the head on the sand. Got to face realities and confront them. Walton, Vujacic and Farmar have to confront these realities in order to appease those opinions. It is not healthy to hide flaws, we as avid Laker fans have to expose them and solve them. Laker quality and standards greatly differs from player fan dome or fanaticism. A true Laker fan will not accept ineptness, laziness and passionless players. Once a player wear the purple and gold uniform, it carries with him a lot of expectations, burden as well as responsibilities based on its tradition. The Championship banners, the HOF Laker numbers, Chick's banner - those are all Laker qualities that a true fan should embrace and protect. Let the chips fall where they may. Let's call a spade a spade.

Here are my suggested solutions to our apparent problems:

1. Platoon substitutions should be discouraged in PJ's rotations. There should be always three starters playing on the floor when starters go on a rest mode. The rotations will go on accordingly as the game progresses.

2. On point guards, Fisher will always be the starter however, he should not be playing more than 30 minutes. When Brown is in, Kobe should also be there, the same rule applies to Farmar. They need a mentor out there to augment their anxieties to produce. This applies to Mbenga, he should be partnered with starters like LO and Artest. He is too ineffective when mixed with all 2nd unit players.

3. PJ should experiment his spotters on the perimeters like playing Sasha and Ammo simultaneously. Right now they don't have any confidence on themselves but it has been proven in the past that they can contribute in offense. If you position them on each sides, it spreads the offense and decongest the low post concentration on Drew. With regards to their defensive shortcomings of V/M, I believe if they are mixed with Drew, LO and Artest, it would cover up those defensive holes.

4. Luke should not be playing with Farmar and Brown, all of these players are tentative on their offense. Luke should be mixed with the starters when resting Fisher. Luke can act as a great facilitator and feed the best offensive players around him like Kobe, Artest, Drew or perhaps even Josh. Don't expect too much on Luke offense, he was born to feed not to shoot. I think that is where we exploit the best of Luke's presence.

5. When the game is on the line, of course PJ will always go with Kobe. However, it doesn't mean the other players will just be standing around and watch Kobe goes to the hoop. They have to keep on moving, free themselves so that Kobe could find them when he's airborne. Secondly, no telegraphic passes like horizontal passing across the court or risky passes of alley hoop when the game is on the line, it should be a clear pass and create an opening first, for Kobe to maneuver his shots in the dying seconds.

Again I am not a coach but just a long time fan who wants to contribute and share views. These views were acquired from watching many games and being a player too. I may be critical to some players but I also want them to improve, not just disappear in every game.

Edwin,

Your #5 is right on the money.
5. When the game is on the line, of course PJ will always go with Kobe. However, it doesn't mean the other players will just be standing around and watch Kobe goes to the hoop. They have to keep on moving, free themselves so that Kobe could find them when he's airborne. Secondly, no telegraphic passes like horizontal passing across the court or risky passes of alley hoop when the game is on the line, it should be a clear pass and create an opening first, for Kobe to maneuver his shots in the dying seconds.

That is truly why Gasol is missed. He usually tends to move into a position where he can get an interior pass when Kobe drives to the hoop and that's really what's missing right now. On too many of Kobe drives last night, especially in the 4th quarter Drew was boxed out and the other players were to far on the perimeter to pass to without the Thunder players getting their quick hands on the ball.

I don't care about the Kobe bashing, he had a tough game last night but we're already back to ball hog as an issue. It was just a little deeper than ball hogging at play last night. Let just demonstrate that this was not a stellar effort by any of the Lakers in the 2nd half and an inspired effort by the Thunder. And of course Kobe is going to get most of the criticism cause win or lose he's willing to take the ball in his hands and do whatever it takes to try and win. But dang people we just won the championship and our second best player is out of the rotation and we're incorporating a new guy and its 4 games into the season and some are already doom, gloom, despair and agony on me. I digress, back to what I saw last night.

Our guys were not at their best last night, not just Kobe but Bynum and LO and Fish all had issues in the second half and our bench has not been very good for the last 2 games, giving up big or comfortable leads, which can really be attributed to Phil's "let them figure it out on their own attitude." I don't care that the box score says Bynum went 10-15, he also had a very bad stretch in one minute of play in the 4th where in consecutive possessions he had 2 shots block, missed a layup, turned the ball over. He then missed 2 crucial free throws, LO clinked and then completely air-balled a free throw. Fisher had several costly turnovers in the 4th, Ron Artest played his best ball as a Laker on both sides of the ball last night.

Lest you forget. We are the champions and we're gonna get everybody's best shot every night. The Oklahoma Thunder played great ball last night, especially defensively it took overtime but we still won. All wins aren't going to be textbook, pretty, easy, smooth, or particularly up to our high standards. But I challenge anyone of us, sitting in our arm chairs in our living rooms to bring half as much to the table as, in your opinion, our worst bench player.

End of story we won!

Go Lakers!!!