Lakers Thread

[CMJ3]

Kwame is gonna destroy this team and Bynum, I honestly dont know why you got Brown in the first place he is a terrible player and when you got Bynum, Turiaf and also Mihm(not so much) why would you need another scrub big man. Bynum is gonna get shut away when Kwame comes back, which is a shame because Bynum can at least catch the ball.

[dada]

Damn, Kobe needs to frickin get himself involved, this guy looks so passive on offense. I hope he comes out willing to shoot every now and then because 3 shots, 3 turnovers and 1 assist isnt quite cutting it. Guys cant even get shots off him because even Smush is looking more of a threat than him.

Come on Mr. Bryant, step your game up come second half. If you and Lamar arent agressive nobody can feed off yall.

Now I am hearing Mihm will be out 5-8 months...too much negatives for me at once.

[brad feet]

all i can say is the lakers need to have another system other than this freakin triangle offense. it's not workin' w/ the present their group of guys..........fuck.....and what is phil doin with his bench.........put farmar and evans in...........

[dada]

I dont think the triangle is that bad a system though, I mean they came in as the 3rd highest scoring team in the league I believe. They just need to maintain their intensity on a more consistent basis and keep moving. Guys are just standing around and thats not helping at all.

[---]

Kobes playing like shit. He doesn't even look like he wants to be out there tonight. When Kobes shot isn't falling he usually takes over the playmaker role, but he hasn't even attempted that properly, instead resorting to pulling up shot then quickly firing a stupid pass crosscourt for no apparent reason. Arrrgh, Kobe playing shit and RJ injured... Fantasy isn't looking great right now for me.

EDIT: Still hope for LA....

[dada]

Man if Kobe was playing this hard from the get go they may have had a shot at stomping Detroit. As of right now (unless rain falls from the ground) its too little too late.

[CMJ3]

This lakers team looks better with odom as the 1st option and bryant on the sideline.

[dada]

They look better with Kobe agressive. Thats about it. The guy has put up 16 so far in the quarter bringing them slowly back in the game and he is now on the freethrow line. A seemingly lost game now looks somewhat respectable. I only wonder if he is concerned about being too agressive with the knee or what but he cant continue playing passive..its embarassing.

[---]

Sick spinning jumper by Kobe. He had 2 points going into the 4th and finishes with 19

[CMJ3]

Kobe left it too late, Bynum put up a Curry Like performance 6 points 2 rebounds

[---]

When he attempted of that dunk, he exploded off the floor pretty damn quick and got plenty of rise. Then just remember he said he's not even at 90%. He will be fine this season, as will the Lakers. As stupid as this may seem, I think Kobe would of finished with 2 if Tayshaun didn't break him down with that crossover. You could tell Kobe was pissed, and thats when he started to take over in the fourth. Up until that point he look uninterested.

CMJ, Bynum couldn't do shit against the zone.

[Zoom]

Firstly, everyone needs to undertsand that Andrew Bynum isn't going to put up double digits in points and rebounds every game.

Secondly, Kobe Bryant is hurt. I think his injury is for real keeping him back a bit. With him not participating in the game, I have no excuses for him. If he's not looking like he wants to play, Phil should take him off. Thing is, we don't need Kobe the whole game to score. We need Lamar Odom and others to step up. Kobe can turn it on in the second half but that also means he needs to help make plays for his team mates. He talented enough.

Thirdy, Kwame Brown is not crap. He's just got no balls. He's an underrated low post defender and the Lakers signing him was one of the only good things Kupchak has done for us. Unfortunately Mihm will be out for even longer so having Kwame back is good.

I just hope you guys undertsand that Kobe, Kwame, etc are coming back from injuries and still need to get back into it. It's still early days and we will get better as time goes on. I really doubt that Kobe is fully healed. He's probably still hurting but not saying anything about it. I guess him playing even how he is now may hurt our chances of winning now but if it's going to help him back to form quicker, I guess this is the way to go.

Thing is, he's a non-factor in games cause he doesn't want to reinjure himself. At the same time, maybe Phil thinks Kobe will get better by getting minutes. If I was Kobe, I would rest right now. Lamar Odom has shown that he is able to lead this team for the time being.

Also, I really don't like Smush Parker starting.

[---]

Kobe will go for 30/5/5 I have no doubts, and the Lakers will make the playoffs. Mihm is apparently gone for the season. I actually like Kwame, he is pretty skilled but never does anything with it, so he becomes a pain to watch, although maybe with Mihm out Kwame will step it up a notch?

[Zoom]

Thing is, when Mihm and Kwame were put together, they both didn't play as well.. especially Kwame. So that's why Phil wanted to start Kwame at C and bring Mihm from off the bench. Sucks that Mihm is out now... he's a good consistent scoring option for us in the post. Just a bit inconsistent for road games. With Kwame, 4 years in Washington getting criticised everyday and with hjis already 'shy' nature... I guess that's why he hasn't played up to everyone's standard.

But if he gets that starting job back and plays hard enough, I see him as good enough even for the second highest scorer on this team. Third if Odom decides to start scoring again. Kwame showed that he was for real at the end of last season. Expect that to continue for this season and what's better is that he's actually confident now. No more dropped passes I hope.

With Kobe, I hope that he rests a bit more. I think that it would be best for everyone right now. Regardless of what happens and as long as he doesn't get hurt any time soon, Kobe should be good to average 28-30 ppg, 7-8 rpg and 5-6 apg.

[[Q]]

This lakers team looks better with odom as the 1st option and bryant on the sideline.

which is why they won all those games at the beginning of the season. Lamar had another solid game and keeps flirting with that triple double. There's really not much else he can do to help the Lakers win.

and Zoom, if Kobe's still hurt, why is he playing then? I mean, he had more than enough time to recover and if he's still hurting then he should sit and let Lamar take over... like CMJ said, they've done so much better without Kobe.

[Zoom]

That's what I'm saying bro. He shouldn't be even out there if he's hurt. You can just tell he's not himself out there. Not the same guy as last season and not the kind of Kobe we all know about. As I've said, in the media they all say everything's fine. I think that far from the truth. Kobe is still hurt. His injury usually takes half to three quarters of the time he has been out for... this is no doubt his worst injury in his 10 year career.

Right now, if I'm right... I think he's better off sitting it out. Let Lamar run the show and wait for the knee to get better. He's not going to say anything about it because he doesn't want to be seen as vulnerable.

I guess he can play if he's going to have a big fourth quarter but that means his teammates need to step up. With Kobe, if he's not looking ready to play, Jax has got to sub him off. I want Evans to play too and I want Lamar to attack.

[CMJ3]

But if Kobe isnt confident then none of the Lakers are....

[---]

7-8 rpg

Doubt that. I don't see him setting a career high in RPG.

Zoom, did you catch the game today? Kobe still had his bounce and everything, he looks great to me, but his mental game isn't there yet. He looked very good athletically, so its scary when he says he still isn't even at 90%

This is how I see the Lakers starters:

C: Andrew Bynum - Don't get too excited over Bynum just yet. Sure he has plenty of potential but he won't be having 20 point and 10+ rebounding nights very often this season. Kwame is the number one scoring option in the post, then theres Luke Walton and Radmanovic that will also be ahead of Bynum in terms of scoring options that will frequent the paint. Look for around 7/9/2.


PF: Kwame Brown - The teams primary post presence will only be threatened for playing time by a soft 3 point shooting Vladamir Radmanovic. Unless your name is Dirk, if your a big you should be staying inside on a team like the Lakers, with o good post up scorers. Will have his best season yet in this primary role and should put up a double-double or very close to it.


SF: Lamar Odom - In my opinion, this guy is the glue of the Lakers. Sure they have Kobe, but Lamar is like the middleman - without him, it all falls apart. He is the Pippen to Kobes Jordan and will probably rise higher this year as its one more year in the triangle offense and settling more into a playmaker role. Definitely one of the most versatile players in the NBA.


SG: Kobe Bryant - Should be the same old Kobe in 3 weeks. He will be a legit MVP candidate once again and put up some monster stats. Once he regains his athleticism his game will follow, simply because he depends on his athleticism to make plays. Will hold off LeBron for at least one more year as the best player in the league with a statline of around 30ppg and apg/rpg hovering around 5.


PG: Smush Parker - I have a feeling he will be reduced to a bench role after seeing Farmar. Smush is good when he's on, but he's too inconsistent. When your a mid-level team in the west, you need to be consistent, and the PG is the most important position on the floor which makes this even more important.

[Zoom]

But if Kobe isnt confident then none of the Lakers are....

Sorry, what do you mean there?

Kobe still had his bounce and everything, he looks great to me, but his mental game isn't there yet. He looked very good athletically, so its scary when he says he still isn't even at 90%

He might have his bounce but I don't think he's going to exert all his energy and put too much stress on his knees. I think that's why he didn't start attacking till the last quarter when he figured it was up to him to get his team the win so he had to ignore any type of stiffness or soreness in his knee. Even if he says the knee isn't bad, I wouldn't believe him.

And right back at ya:

C: Andrew Bynum - Don't get too excited over Bynum just yet. Sure he has plenty of potential but he won't be having 20 point and 10+ rebounding nights very often this season. Kwame is the number one scoring option in the post, then theres Luke Walton and Radmanovic that will also be ahead of Bynum in terms of scoring options that will frequent the paint. Look for around 7/9/2.


PF: Kwame Brown - The teams primary post presence will only be threatened for playing time by a soft 3 point shooting Vladamir Radmanovic. Unless your name is Dirk, if your a big you should be staying inside on a team like the Lakers, with o good post up scorers. Will have his best season yet in this primary role and should put up a double-double or very close to it.


SF: Lamar Odom - In my opinion, this guy is the glue of the Lakers. Sure they have Kobe, but Lamar is like the middleman - without him, it all falls apart. He is the Pippen to Kobes Jordan and will probably rise higher this year as its one more year in the triangle offense and settling more into a playmaker role. Definitely one of the most versatile players in the NBA.


SG: Kobe Bryant - Should be the same old Kobe in 3 weeks. He will be a legit MVP candidate once again and put up some monster stats. Once he regains his athleticism his game will follow, simply because he depends on his athleticism to make plays. Will hold off LeBron for at least one more year as the best player in the league with a statline of around 30ppg and apg/rpg hovering around 5.


PG: Smush Parker - I have a feeling he will be reduced to a bench role after seeing Farmar. Smush is good when he's on, but he's too inconsistent. When your a mid-level team in the west, you need to be consistent, and the PG is the most important position on the floor which makes this even more important.

Bynum will get to start until Kwame is back at full strength. Then Jax will be bringing him off the bench. He's still young and inexperienced. He's just not ready yet. He's lucky he's big and I do admit he's got some skills but he's not ready to contribute night in and night out. He's done a good job though so far.

Kwame will start at C eventually. He proved to be a strong option in the post late last season. With his new found confidence, better grip of the triangle... I expect about 16 ppg and 9 rpg from him.

Lamar will start at the PF position. At least he should start there because that's where he plays his best basketball. Probably the best rebounder on this team, a talented scorer and very unselfish. You're right that Lamar is the glue of the team. He's keeping us together and in a perfect world, I would hope to see him do this all the time AND score. The thinbg is he's way too unselfish. Looks like he's reverting back to the 'I need to pass and rebound... that's my job. Scoring isn't for me.' Not that Lamar pisses me off. The Lamar who was averaging 28 ppg, 13 rpg and 7 apg is what I want!

Kobe Bryant needs to make sure his shot selection is good this season. I'm interested to see what he can do. His shots are still flat and he's just not in form. He's kept getting stronger though and I guess he's showing that he is able to sort of play the team game once in a while. Should take a bit mroe time to get back into it but if there's no injury coming up, then I think Kobe will be back at 100% by January.

Smush Parker is slower than usual cause of his added bulk. Any improvment on his mid range game doesn't seem evident... however, I think it's more likely due to the fact that he isn't a starting PG. Not that kind of player and never will be. He's better off as an energy player off the bench. If onyl Aaron McKie had two legs instead of one...

[CMJ3]

If bryant isnt confident about winning and scoring then the rest of the team wont be confident either. He is the team so if he doesnt wanna win and score then none of them will.

[Zoom]

If bryant isnt confident about winning and scoring then the rest of the team wont be confident either. He is the team so if he doesnt wanna win and score then none of them will.

Exactly, that's why I'm saying if he doesn't wanna play, he shouldn't be out there. Get what I'm saying?

[[Q]]

well, somehow I tihnk that with Kobe, lack of confidence is never a problem. I has to do with his confidence in his teammates.

[Zoom]

I think he's confident with them.. I thnik it's more like his teammates don't trust themselves and are too scared to go themselves... just a suggestion.

[Matt]

MUAHAHAHAH, Pistons win

[xman]

why all want to put walton to Bench he is playing very well at the moment.