Its gonna be a difficult couple of months for the Lakers without Bynum, he has improved so much that he makes the game alot easier for his teammates on both ends of the floor. He has such great hands that he can catch anything that is thrown up to the rim and on D he changes just about every shot in his vicinity which is almost as good as a block. His rebounding has been consistently solid and he is showing that he has a great touch when finishing his post moves. I'd always hoped he was gonna be the real deal for the Lakers but to have him already there at age 20 is way beyond my expectations.
Now onto his replacement Kwame (the "anti-Bynum"😉, after so long in the league its hard to imagine how he hasnt got better. In fact it seems like he is getting worse, his confidence is shattered and instead of trying to prove people wrong he has withered and shrunk under the pressure. Last nights game was rock bottom (i hope) i dont blame the fans for booing, he deserved it with his pathetic effort (no excuse to not play hard, especially since you know how much your team is counting on you - at least do the basics like catch the ball, finish lay ups, rebound and rotate on defense.) Its amazing to me that a 7 footer can miss so many lay ups and dunks, its actually seems harder to miss some of the gimmies that he bricks. The only reason i think the booing was stupid is because he is so mentally weak that he will actually play worse rather than step it up and focusing on shutting his doubters up.
Going back to Bynum again, imagine if he had adopted the same approach when Kobe trashed him last summer. Imagine if he had crawled into his shell and felt sorry for himself, but he took Kobe's insults and used it as motivation to improve and prove Kobe wrong. Thats why i cant wait for Bynum to get back because he has a winners mentality to go along with his rapidly improving game and we are not going far with Kwame as our starting center.
Its been talked about in the news that the Lakers are looking at Webber and Mbenga as possible signings now our frontline has taken a injury hit. I've wanted to see Webber in the triangle for years, with his passing skills i think he could give us similar production to what Malone did in his short spell with us (obviously without the tough defense). Also i'd love to see him play the high post once Bynum gets back, Bynum would get so many easy lobs from Webber he'd think it was Xmas day. Even Mbenga would be better than Kwame right now because he will challenge shots and not just stand there and watch lay ups all day.
If Bynum comes back as strong as when he went down then the Lakers can make a decent playoff run, he anchors the defense and gives you a high percentage scorer down low. Thats what you need in the playoffs when the game slows down.
Sorry for the long post but i dont get on here much nowadays and i had some things i had to get off my chest.
Good post
As a long time fan, Lakers have to improve the roster
Webber keeps goin back and forth. Be a Laker, no be a Piston. I would like to see Chris. Anything is better than Kwame
Mbenga, he may challenge shots. But less than 2 pts a game, why waste a few 10 day contracts
Move Odom and a few young players, get Jermanine O'Neil
Originally posted by guy222
Good postAs a long time fan, Lakers have to improve the roster
Webber keeps goin back and forth. Be a Laker, no be a Piston. I would like to see Chris. Anything is better than Kwame
Mbenga, he may challenge shots. But less than 2 pts a game, why waste a few 10 day contracts
Move Odom and a few young players, get Jermanine O'Neil
🙂 Exactly
You cant just throw out names of players we want to unload and think its that easy to get JO (who isnt playing well at all this season and makes max money). Bird is not gonna take the Lakers junk and give us his only All Star, no way no how.
We have a very deep and talented team when we are healthy, remember we have Bynum, Mihm and Vlade out at the moment. Thats 3 frontcourt players (even if Vlade plays like a 6'10 SG), once we get those guys back we will be ok going into the playoffs. A guy like Webber or Mbenga will cost us next to nothing and add something positive (either passing or shot blocking) to the roster when we are healthy again. JO, im not sure he is the answer anymore (especially with his toxic contract).
C - Bynum/Mihm/Kwame
PF - Odom/Webber/Turiaf
SF - Ariza/Vlade/Walton
SG - Kobe/Sasha/Karl
PG - Fisher/Farmar/Crittenton
Thats to depth chart i'd like to see heading into the playoffs, switch Webber with Mbenga and we improve defensively which is our main problem. We always score enough points to win.
Originally posted by koolruningz
You cant just throw out names of players we want to unload and think its that easy to get JO (who isnt playing well at all this season and makes max money). Bird is not gonna take the Lakers junk and give us his only All Star, no way no how.
We have a very deep and talented team when we are healthy, remember we have Bynum, Mihm and Vlade out at the moment. Thats 3 frontcourt players (even if Vlade plays like a 6'10 SG), once we get those guys back we will be ok going into the playoffs. A guy like Webber or Mbenga will cost us next to nothing and add something positive (either passing or shot blocking) to the roster when we are healthy again. JO, im not sure he is the answer anymore (especially with his toxic contract).C - Bynum/Mihm/Kwame
PF - Odom/Webber/Turiaf
SF - Ariza/Vlade/Walton
SG - Kobe/Sasha/Karl
PG - Fisher/Farmar/CrittentonThats to depth chart i'd like to see heading into the playoffs, switch Webber with Mbenga and we improve defensively which is our main problem. We always score enough points to win.
Chris has to get healthy. Luke has a bad ankle. Its obvious
I like Kwame. He's never lived up to his potential. Lakers have a really rough road ahead with top caliber teams. If Kwame can't get it done. Have to make a move
In regards to Bird, he prolly wouldn't. The whole Webber talk it seems is just that
I agree about defense, but without that shot blocker in the middle, I see my boys strugging
I hope Vlad Rad can get healthy
I was watching old Kings highlights and found this little gem.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=er0E5MP5r6E&feature=related
I'm remember seeing this play live and thinking that was one of the greatest passes I've ever seen.
We could have beaten any of those teams in a 7 games series with a healthy Bynum and no Gasol. But now we have Gasol coming off the bench to back up Bynum.
First of all I would just like to say that Phoenix has NO shot at beating us in a series. I believe Gasol has been REALLY successful against the small Suns and seeing as how we beat them twice when we were healthy, it's safe to say that if we play them in any round, were going to finally eliminate them as a matter of fact it might be sweep.
Mitch Kupcake finally did something right.
To Laker fans, are you more happy that Kwame is gone or that we got Gasol.