It wasn't my only reasoning. My reasoning was simple - with 4 bigs crowding the paint, Odom can't drive or move about in the lane as well as he needs to be able to grab rebounds.
His rebounding always drops a bit when he plays small forward, but he always dominates the match up with opposing small forwards. Odom typically has averaged between 7-8 rebounds a game at small forward. Having two centers in the lane affects everyones ability to drive, not only Odom's.
magic_bryant wrote:
The lack of a jumpshot would only further compound matters as his defender would sag off him, making it 5 big bodies in the paint. This would only make it harder on KGB to get any clean looks inside.
People forget that he used to have confidence in that shot. He was never a great shooter, but he was an adequate one. When he hit 37.2% of his shots from beyond the arc a couple seasons ago, he was taking 2.4 three point attempts a game. He lost that confidence after his second shoulder injury and he hadn't regained it. He looks to me like he has worked on his shot though and regained his confidence in it.
eFG% on Jump Shots This Season:
Radmanovic: 54.3% (82% of his shots)
Sasha: 52.4% (91% of his shots)
Fisher: 48.8% (80% of his shots)
Odom: 46.3% (51% of his shots)
Ariza: 41.9% (44% of his shots)
Kobe: 40.9% (76% of his shots)
Farmar: 40.7% (54% of his shots)
NOTE: These were last updated after the Suns game, doesn't reflect the Nuggets game.
You don't really hear anyone talking about his improved shot or his willingness to shoot that shot this season. We've seen him stop on fast breaks and shoot pull up threes though a couple of times this season already, which tells me he has regained confidence in his shooting touch.
magic_bryant wrote:
LO's not a 3, and it certainly isn't just because of a lack of a jumpshot.
Yet he's had some of his most productive years as a 3. Explain to me how he isn't a good three then?
I'm fairly sure we'll see the three big guys in the lineup together at some point this year, it's a lineup you want to see by the time you reach the playoffs. I don't like the idea of either Bynum or Odom sitting during crunch time. But in general day to day minutes, there's a lot more minutes at power forward right now than there are at small forward. Phil is determined to stick with Radmanovic's shooting, and Vlad has played much better defense (and not gotten enough credit for it imo). Ariza has played very well, and that's his best position. Kobe is great offensively at small forward, but because of the emergence of Ariza we have rarely seen him slide to that position, which has meant less Sasha. It's certainly our most crowded position, Walton remains glued to the pine. Phil's got a rough job this season of keeping everyone happy with their minutes and role on a team this talented. I'm fine with Odom playing most of his minutes at power forward. When there is 4 minutes left in a close game though I want to see an Odom/Gasol/Bynum frontline.
And some of his most productive years were as a 3 with a 3-pt marksman beside him in Brian Cook at 4, or Darius Miles with the Clippers. Once the Clippers landed Brand, Odom played terribly at the 3. TERRIBLY.
He can not play the SF with a legit 4 beside him. Period. _________________ Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."
so we're in agreement, he's a natural 3 _________________ “A story about Kobe is the first time they went to be fitted for their USA uniforms and Kobe starts crying. The equipment person asks him what happened and Kobe was like, man, you don’t understand, I’ve dreamed of playing for my country."
He can't play the position anymore. When he has success at SF, it's because he's playing the position as a PF would with lots of post-ups. Can't do that with a legitimate 4 beside him. _________________ Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."
He can't play the position anymore. When he has success at SF, it's because he's playing the position as a PF would with lots of post-ups. Can't do that with a legitimate 4 beside him.
you said it yourself, he always started out playing the 3 position _________________ “A story about Kobe is the first time they went to be fitted for their USA uniforms and Kobe starts crying. The equipment person asks him what happened and Kobe was like, man, you don’t understand, I’ve dreamed of playing for my country."
The Lamar off the bench experiment seems to be working pretty good, it looks like Lamar has finally found a role he can excel in without the pressure to perform every night.
This is the exact reason I have no respect for Lamar as a hooper.
He had to be demoted and relieved of accountability to feel comfortable enough to contribute.
That's one of my main beefs with the guy as well. Put no expectations on him, and he dominates. But the minute you expect anything of him, he reverts to Casper, too afraid of responsibility.
This is why I'm done with the guy. He cost us a Finals last year because of that and if we lean on him again he'll sure a hell do the same thing to us.
He disgusts me because Lamar can roll out bed and get 15 and 10.
Imagine if he actually cared.......
Do you actually believe LO cost us the finals last year? What about the other eleven that didn't show up? Don't they count?
Sure they count but you are only as strong as your weakest link.
Lamar laid down in the finals because it was too hard for him.
He couldn't easily dominate so he gave up as he usually does.
Bingo on the Finals.
LO is the world's best teammate and bully when things are going well. When his team is playing great, he's great. But as soon as things go awry, Lamar Odom comes out and you begin seeing the frustration fouls, turnovers, charges, missed layups, etc of a man that doesn't believe his team can win and has essentially already threw up the white flag.
Wow, you guys are having a real hate orgy here. You should get a room. You must be so proud. Anyone who believes LO is the sole reason we lost in the Finals is completely delusional and blinded by hate. Ridiculous _________________ “I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom
He can't play the position anymore. When he has success at SF, it's because he's playing the position as a PF would with lots of post-ups. Can't do that with a legitimate 4 beside him.
He played it a couple seasons ago, after he had already bulked up and he outplayed his competition. Been posted in two other threads here. Noone can deny that he outplayed his competition at that position more often than not. He has been most effective later in his career at the 4, though. But that's not to say that he can't play small forward. He can still be an effective small forward.
Regarding the Brand situation, he certainly regressed the season they brought in Brand. In their first season together they ran Odom as the point guard essentially. He struggled terribly with his three point shot, only hitting 19% of his threes that year, while launching a ridiculous 2.9. He had basically been reduced to a jump shooter in that offense and with Brand being the primary scorer his points went way down. His rebounding also went down with him hanging around at the three point line. Still he did give a 13.1 point, 6.1 rebound, 5.9 assist, 1.2 block and 0.8 steal season. Not terrible, but it wasn't what they wanted from him. The next season they brought in Andre Miller and Odom's numbers went back up a bit as a traditional 3. He only played 49 and 29 games in those two seasons due to the drug suspensions and injuries. I don't think you can pin all of his struggles on just playing with Elton Brand, there was a lot more to it than that.
The role he played in the first year with Brand was similar to the one he played for us a couple years ago, except that he had a better jump shot in his season with us. As our starting small forward he averaged 13.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. But he was less of a scoring threat than we wanted him to be as our second option. In the head to head matchups with other marquee forwards though, he held his own or outperformed his counterpart more often than not. He could certainly still play the position. He moved to power forward because Mihm got hurt and Kwame moved to the starting center. It was decided that Odom's rebounding was needed at power forward, and that Walton would be better as the starting small forward than Cook as the starting power forward.
His strenght at that position definately is his post up ability though, because he's too big for other small forwards. That's unlikely to get exploited much on this team. Doesn't mean he can't still be effective at that position. He's played excellent defense at that position when he's been given a chance as a Laker, outperformed his opponents across the board, etc. For years we were trying to find a power forward to move him back to his natural position. He struggled last season there and suddenly he can't play the 3 any more. The guy had two injuries and had missed all of camp and the start of the season after his shoulder surgery and lost all confidence in his jumper. I don't think you can say he can't play the spot any more on the basis of his play under those circumstances, when he started at the spot for 75% of our season three years ago and was effective.
I do agree that at this point of his career Odom is a better 4 than a 3. Partly because his quickness advantages against 4s and his ability to draw them from the basket is greater than his post up advantages over small forwards, especially since we rarely ever took advantage of his size there. He doesn't really have any glaring weaknesses as a power forward, but as a small forward, despite his early season shooting, one would still have to think he isn't the first guy you'd want to have spotting up for an open jumper. Still our options at the end of the games are pretty much:
In my opinion the best option is the big frontline, because its the strongest defensively and pretty good offensively. The only weakness in that offense is that if the defense double teams your pretty much guaranteed its going to come off of Odom, or Ariza if he was out there. So you put the honus on those two guys to either knock down open shots, or to cut to the basket. Having Radmanovic or Sasha as the other guy on the court provides spacing and makes it hard to double off of anyone, but it sacrifices defense and rebounding. Personally I'd go with Odom first and Ariza second in those situations, and if they were doubling off those guys and they weren't taking advantage, I'd make a switch. I could live with less spacing though for improved defense and second chance opportunities.
He can't play the position anymore. When he has success at SF, it's because he's playing the position as a PF would with lots of post-ups. Can't do that with a legitimate 4 beside him.
He played it a couple seasons ago, after he had already bulked up and he outplayed his competition. Been posted in two other threads here. Noone can deny that he outplayed his competition at that position more often than not. He has been most effective later in his career at the 4, though. But that's not to say that he can't play small forward. He can still be an effective small forward.
Regarding the Brand situation, he certainly regressed the season they brought in Brand. In their first season together they ran Odom as the point guard essentially. He struggled terribly with his three point shot, only hitting 19% of his threes that year, while launching a ridiculous 2.9. He had basically been reduced to a jump shooter in that offense and with Brand being the primary scorer his points went way down. His rebounding also went down with him hanging around at the three point line. Still he did give a 13.1 point, 6.1 rebound, 5.9 assist, 1.2 block and 0.8 steal season. Not terrible, but it wasn't what they wanted from him. The next season they brought in Andre Miller and Odom's numbers went back up a bit as a traditional 3. He only played 49 and 29 games in those two seasons due to the drug suspensions and injuries. I don't think you can pin all of his struggles on just playing with Elton Brand, there was a lot more to it than that.
The role he played in the first year with Brand was similar to the one he played for us a couple years ago, except that he had a better jump shot in his season with us. As our starting small forward he averaged 13.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. But he was less of a scoring threat than we wanted him to be as our second option. In the head to head matchups with other marquee forwards though, he held his own or outperformed his counterpart more often than not. He could certainly still play the position. He moved to power forward because Mihm got hurt and Kwame moved to the starting center. It was decided that Odom's rebounding was needed at power forward, and that Walton would be better as the starting small forward than Cook as the starting power forward.
His strenght at that position definately is his post up ability though, because he's too big for other small forwards. That's unlikely to get exploited much on this team. Doesn't mean he can't still be effective at that position. He's played excellent defense at that position when he's been given a chance as a Laker, outperformed his opponents across the board, etc. For years we were trying to find a power forward to move him back to his natural position. He struggled last season there and suddenly he can't play the 3 any more. The guy had two injuries and had missed all of camp and the start of the season after his shoulder surgery and lost all confidence in his jumper. I don't think you can say he can't play the spot any more on the basis of his play under those circumstances, when he started at the spot for 75% of our season three years ago and was effective.
I do agree that at this point of his career Odom is a better 4 than a 3. Partly because his quickness advantages against 4s and his ability to draw them from the basket is greater than his post up advantages over small forwards, especially since we rarely ever took advantage of his size there. He doesn't really have any glaring weaknesses as a power forward, but as a small forward, despite his early season shooting, one would still have to think he isn't the first guy you'd want to have spotting up for an open jumper. Still our options at the end of the games are pretty much:
In my opinion the best option is the big frontline, because its the strongest defensively and pretty good offensively. The only weakness in that offense is that if the defense double teams your pretty much guaranteed its going to come off of Odom, or Ariza if he was out there. So you put the honus on those two guys to either knock down open shots, or to cut to the basket. Having Radmanovic or Sasha as the other guy on the court provides spacing and makes it hard to double off of anyone, but it sacrifices defense and rebounding. Personally I'd go with Odom first and Ariza second in those situations, and if they were doubling off those guys and they weren't taking advantage, I'd make a switch. I could live with less spacing though for improved defense and second chance opportunities.
but brands went up! _________________ "Never try to teach a pig to sing,
it makes one look stupid
and it irritates the pig."
We haven't seen that lineup yet, but those who believe we won't ever see it this season are destined to be disappointed. Reality will be a *****.
OK. What position is LO playing when Pau and Andrew are in the lineup? Doesn't he play the 3?
he plays the 3 and 4 and lead guard many times and sets up the offense.
he is used all over the place and right after he comes in the game we go up. immediate positive results almot every game. he is +18 n48 _________________ "Never try to teach a pig to sing,
it makes one look stupid
and it irritates the pig."
His what went up? Brand's scoring actually went down his first couple seasons with the Clippers, he only averaged 18 a game, after averaging 20.1 in his first two years in Chicaago. But his rebounds and field goal percentage went up. His scoring didn't actually increase from his Bulls days until his 5th season as a Clipper. That team actually had a lot of weapons. Andre Miller dropped 3 points a game after coming over from the Cavs. Odom dropped 3 points a game. Brand dropped 2 points a game.
And yet, Odom still hasn't seen a single SF minute 11 games into the season.
Hmmm. _________________ Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."
The Lamar off the bench experiment seems to be working pretty good, it looks like Lamar has finally found a role he can excel in without the pressure to perform every night.
This is the exact reason I have no respect for Lamar as a hooper.
He had to be demoted and relieved of accountability to feel comfortable enough to contribute.
That's one of my main beefs with the guy as well. Put no expectations on him, and he dominates. But the minute you expect anything of him, he reverts to Casper, too afraid of responsibility.
This is why I'm done with the guy. He cost us a Finals last year because of that and if we lean on him again he'll sure a hell do the same thing to us.
He disgusts me because Lamar can roll out bed and get 15 and 10.
Imagine if he actually cared.......
Do you actually believe LO cost us the finals last year? What about the other eleven that didn't show up? Don't they count?
Sure they count but you are only as strong as your weakest link.
Lamar laid down in the finals because it was too hard for him.
He couldn't easily dominate so he gave up as he usually does.
Bingo on the Finals.
LO is the world's best teammate and bully when things are going well. When his team is playing great, he's great. But as soon as things go awry, Lamar Odom comes out and you begin seeing the frustration fouls, turnovers, charges, missed layups, etc of a man that doesn't believe his team can win and has essentially already threw up the white flag.
Wow, you guys are having a real hate orgy here. You should get a room. You must be so proud. Anyone who believes LO is the sole reason we lost in the Finals is completely delusional and blinded by hate. Ridiculous
Don't pay em no mind... They truly believe that Odom was the reason Kobe couldn't operate due to anybody defending LO, left LO and went and got Kobe!
They also believe that LO was responsible for the Lakers gettng snatched from behind with not one of, but the biggest first quarter lead in a finals game playoff history. A lead that LO himself was the main reason it was built.
They believe that Gasol was treated like a woman all during that series because Odom wouldn't exert his machismo on the Celtics and make them stop it...
That the mysterious disappearance of Derek Fisher, Sasha Vujacic, who showed up for but one contest, and Rado who were suppose to be there to knock down shots with there legendary outside stroke was because Odom locked them into there hotel rooms.
Also Odom who was the lone ranger on the boards was to achieve at least 20 boards a game, and anything less would be conceived as nothing short of failure.
So all in all Odom who also came in with less than his "A" game, and part of a crowd of screw ups should know better!
Hence the Lakers "Cinderella" (Lamar Odom) just as the fable goes is blamed for everything that her ugly stepsisters did wrong...
Arizona, you know what I look forward to? When LO leaves next season if that is to be, who will get blamed for any Laker issues?
Fisher will be to old to be fully responsible next year.
Poor Socks! He has no idea of what is about to happen to him! _________________ "According to ESPN.com's conference projections, the Lakers will finish 12th in the West, which prompted Bryant to tweet earlier this offseason, "12th I see.."
And yet, Odom still hasn't seen a single SF minute 11 games into the season.
Running in circles again. Already addressed the clutter a the 3 and Phil's balancing of minutes. Regarding his "terrible" play at the 3, in the season with Brand that you linked. He was a negative against his counterpart because he played no defense at that point. He outrebounded his opponents, and scored at a reasonable rate but he got torched defensively.
magic_bryant wrote:
He can not play the SF with a legit 4 beside him. Period.
Odom moved to power forward after Mihm went down and Kwame became the starting center. That was 56 games into the season. Of those 56 games, Kwame was our starting center for 23 of them, playing alongside of Chris Mihm. So Kwame started 41% of the games and Cook started the other 59%.
Kwame was the starting forward to start the season before losing that spot when Phil realized that Kwame's perimeter game was completely gone and he couldn't play with Mihm. Odom's numbers with Kwame as the starting 4 in November.
I'm too tired to do the next month because I'd have to do it manually from when the switch took place. He averaged 14 points, 8.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists for the month though. Kwame certainly wasn't a perimeter spacing type of power forward.
One last parting comment, not related to Odom at the 3, but related to overall performance. When Odom has been on the court this season we have scored +12.7 points per 100 posseessions. That is by far the most of anyone in the rotation. The nearest guy is Ariza at +7.8. He's also the only guy on our team who has a + offensively and a - defensively. We've given up 1.7 less points per 100 possessions when he's playing PF as opposed to Pau. In the end he's given us a +14.4 swing when he's in the game, as opposed to on the bench. Ariza was number 2 at +7.0 (we gave up +0.8 more points when Ariza has been in the game), and Kobe #3 at +5.7.
However you want to coat his play this season, lower expectations, more minutes against second teamers, etc, the one thing that is clear is that he's been very effective, on both ends of the court.
Lo at the 3 is a hindrance on LA. I'd love to see the +/- on LO at the 3 in 05-06 and 06-07.
Odom's offense definately wasn't as reliable at the 3, he hung around the perimeter more often and didn't get involved for stretches. Though the offense sucked because our team simply wasn't very good at that point. Bynum was a rookie who wasn't ready to play. Mihm was our third best scorer. Sasha was a shooter who couldn't shoot and fouled repeatedly. Turiaf was recovering from open heart surgery. Smush started every game and Kobe was launching 27 shots a game to try to compensate for everyone else.
The Lakers clearly played their best ball at the end of that season when Odom moved to power forward. Though at least part of that was likely due to the schedule. We had a long stretch of home games against bad teams, and began to get a head of steam just at the right time.
In my opinion Odom is a better power forward than a small forward, but is a pretty good small forward too. On the season Odom was a +242, second to Kobe. His PER +/- that season was +2.8 at small forward and +5.6 at power forward. His main problem he had was just not doing enough on offense, and as a second option, that hurt us.
Lamar played amazing the other night verse Denver. It's gotten to a point where the naysayers don't really care how good he performs day in and day out, they just pray for his downfall.
Lamar played amazing the other night verse Denver. It's gotten to a point where the naysayers don't really care how good he performs day in and day out, they just pray for his downfall.
LO was also great against the Suns.
It's very telling when the "naysayers" need to post videos from 2 years ago to hat on Lamar.
Lamar played amazing the other night verse Denver. It's gotten to a point where the naysayers don't really care how good he performs day in and day out, they just pray for his downfall.
And continue to bring up bs from the past as if that had anything to do with the present.
It is one thing to hate on a Laker on a game to game basis, but to never ever forgive a mistake, and turn a blind eye to his current achievements smacks of nothing but pure hatred.
That cannot be taken seriously or even slightly respected... _________________ "According to ESPN.com's conference projections, the Lakers will finish 12th in the West, which prompted Bryant to tweet earlier this offseason, "12th I see.."
Joined: 10 Oct 2007 Posts: 1552 Location: Cincinnati,OH
Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 11:20 am Post subject:
illmatic wrote:
Big Chief Triangle wrote:
LO at the 3......
Good lord.
Post less, you should.
Lamar played amazing the other night verse Denver. It's gotten to a point where the naysayers don't really care how good he performs day in and day out, they just pray for his downfall.
Sure he did. But what happens when we actually have to depend on him again? I'll tell you.........he'll vanish like usual because Lamar only likes it when things are easy.
I just pray to God that we'll never have to depend on Lamar ever again. _________________ Kobe hate is 13 years old now and needs to stop!
Lo at the 3 is a hindrance on LA. I'd love to see the +/- on LO at the 3 in 05-06 and 06-07.
Odom's offense definately wasn't as reliable at the 3, he hung around the perimeter more often and didn't get involved for stretches. Though the offense sucked because our team simply wasn't very good at that point. Bynum was a rookie who wasn't ready to play. Mihm was our third best scorer. Sasha was a shooter who couldn't shoot and fouled repeatedly. Turiaf was recovering from open heart surgery. Smush started every game and Kobe was launching 27 shots a game to try to compensate for everyone else.
The Lakers clearly played their best ball at the end of that season when Odom moved to power forward. Though at least part of that was likely due to the schedule. We had a long stretch of home games against bad teams, and began to get a head of steam just at the right time.
In my opinion Odom is a better power forward than a small forward, but is a pretty good small forward too. On the season Odom was a +242, second to Kobe. His PER +/- that season was +2.8 at small forward and +5.6 at power forward. His main problem he had was just not doing enough on offense, and as a second option, that hurt us.
I know one thing, that was a bit early with a bunch of players, trying to learn the triangle...
You put LO on that first unit with that talent and his current knowledge of the system as Jackson will probably be doing soon with the way Powell is bringing it at the 4. The Lakers can afford to make this move now...
I'll make a prediction right now. LO will be on that first unit, in an attempt to take the ball out of Kobe's hands and put him on the move where he belongs. Ariza will be spelling both Kobe and LO so he can get his minutes, and Vlad moves to the bench...
1rst unit
1 Fisher
2 Kobe
3 Odom
4 Gasol
5 Socks
2nd unit
1 Farmar
2 Sasha
3 Ariza
4 Powell
5 Gasol/Socks
I look for Jackson to see Rado fall off the stick a couple of more times and boom... _________________ "According to ESPN.com's conference projections, the Lakers will finish 12th in the West, which prompted Bryant to tweet earlier this offseason, "12th I see.."
Last edited by THE_SHOES on Sun Nov 23, 2008 11:31 am; edited 2 times in total
Joined: 10 Oct 2007 Posts: 1552 Location: Cincinnati,OH
Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 11:28 am Post subject:
THE_SHOES wrote:
illmatic wrote:
Big Chief Triangle wrote:
LO at the 3......
Good lord.
Post less, you should.
Lamar played amazing the other night verse Denver. It's gotten to a point where the naysayers don't really care how good he performs day in and day out, they just pray for his downfall.
And continue to bring up bs from the past as if that had anything to do with the present.
It is one thing to hate on a Laker on a game to game basis, but to never ever forgive a mistake, and turn a blind eye to his current achievements smacks of nothing but pure hatred.
That cannot be taken seriously or even slightly respected...
Shoes, I don't hate Lamar. I just love the Lakers and I feel like Lamar has let down Laker Nation with his lackluster efforts and failure to get better.
Maybe Laker fans overrated Lamar? Or maybe the whole league and every fan except for about 7 on LG see that Lamar is a 1st class talent with 3rd class effort.
Lamar could average 20-20-20 in his current role and it would do nothing but make him look like more of a slacker because he couldn't do it when we really needed him.
So I guess in a nutt shell I'm a spurned Laker fan who expected great things from Lamar _________________ Kobe hate is 13 years old now and needs to stop!
Ariza has a better chance of starting right now than Odom. Ariza's strength is off the ball movement, and defending the passing lanes. Odom's strength is getting out in the open court, and rebounding. Thus, Odom plays better with the bench unit than with the starters.
Matchups:
PG Fisher - Rando
(Rajon will win this matchup at home)
SG Ariza - Allen
(Trevor can anticipate the outlet passes, his length and athleticism can help him recover quickly)
SF Bryant - Pierce
(Kobe is the only person on the team that can defend Paul adequately)
PF Gasol - Garnett
(Pau did an excellent job defensively last year, but was soft on offense, he needs to prove himself)
C Bynum - Perkins
(Kendrick plays physical, and Andrew has yet to assert himself in the low block)
Last edited by JUST-MING on Sun Nov 23, 2008 11:35 am; edited 1 time in total
Ariza has a better chance of starting right now than Odom. Ariza's strength is off the ball movement, and defending the passing lanes. Odom's strength is getting out in the open court, and rebounding. Thus, Odom plays better with the bench unit than with the starters.
The Lakers still need more skill sets at the 3. Kobe is getting slammed because he has the ball in his hands to much and the bigs aren't getting enough work. Also LO will keep Fish in check as well by his distribution and natural tendency to look for the open man...
That J is dropping and LO isn't hesitating.
The time has almost arrived for what a lot of fans have been waiting for... _________________ "According to ESPN.com's conference projections, the Lakers will finish 12th in the West, which prompted Bryant to tweet earlier this offseason, "12th I see.."
Ariza has a better chance of starting right now than Odom. Ariza's strength is off the ball movement, and defending the passing lanes. Odom's strength is getting out in the open court, and rebounding. Thus, Odom plays better with the bench unit than with the starters.
Matchups:
PG Fisher - Rando
(Rajon will win this matchup at home)
SG Ariza - Allen
(Trevor can anticipate the outlet passes, his length and athleticism can help him recover quickly)
SF Bryant - Pierce
(Kobe is the only person on the team that can defend Paul adequately)
PF Gasol - Garnett
(Pau did an excellent job defensively last year, but was soft on offense, he needs to prove himself)
C Bynum - Perkins
(Kendrick plays physical, and Andrew has yet to assert himself in the low block)
What the Lakers don't need again is kobe wearing himself out on Pierce who is really to big and strong for him. If you were to go with that lineup it should be Ariza on Pierce.
To further optimize Gasol, and Socks, you use Odom and put that 6'10 frame on Pierce's ass and now lets see him get Playoffs MVP. Pierce also cannot cover LO. It would be something beautiful to watch... _________________ "According to ESPN.com's conference projections, the Lakers will finish 12th in the West, which prompted Bryant to tweet earlier this offseason, "12th I see.."
Last edited by THE_SHOES on Sun Nov 23, 2008 11:42 am; edited 1 time in total
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