Right. He's the statistical leader now. This is his first year as a true star (1st all-star, 1st time facing double/triple teams). It takes time to become a franchise player, and he is in the same mold Kobe (rebellious/arrogant) was (remember when Kobe shot 4 airballs in a playoff game when he first came into the league?). "I think he was testing the limits of his game," Bryant said. "In some ways, the edginess and chippiness of him makes it very easy for me to relate to him because I had some of that when I was young. It's easy for me to see where he's coming from." Kobe is seeing a reflection of himself in Bynum in terms of personality. And what does McGrady have to do with anything? If you're seeing Carmelo for what he is this year (a fraud), and yet he has advanced farther in the playoffs, you should know winning is more of a team thing than ever.
Mike Brown can't coach a championship team. He's a better assistant than a head coach. His strength is defense. Either they need an assistant coach that can run a damn offense or move Brown to assistant and get a new HC. They won't win a title under that "offense" they run now.
I don't see a player testing the confines of his game. Bynum shooting an airball three pointer is the equivalent of Kobe randomly shooting a halfcourt hook shot. That wasn't competitive, it was just dumb. Can you imagine Moses or Dream or Yao taking a pullup three pointer with 20 seconds on the shotclock? Bynum is the WEAK, and Kobe is the tyranny of EVIL MEN... Kobe is doing a fine job covering his ass though, because he is a leader.
In defense of Brown, this isn't the type of offense he wants to run. He wants it to be inside-out, and not Kobe dictated. On the perimeter, he wants Ramon to create, and Kobe to finish. It hasn't happened yet. But you have to applaud Brown for having more balls with Kobe in half a season than he ever did with Lebron in Cleveland.
He might have balls but he's still a softie. His players have already expressed that they don't like his offense. If they get outed in the first round, which is possible, he's gone.
They don't like his offense b/c too many times it's the Kobe-centric offense, brought on by Kobe himself. His offense isn't for Kobe shooting 23-24 times a game. Check this stat out. Kobe has only shot less than 20 shots 10 times all year. The lakers are 8-2 in those games. And he's a softie? What he's done with Kobe/Bynum in terms of benching them are more than what most coaches do with their stars. Dude has grown some balls all of a sudden. The Lakers have championship material. For that to happen: 1) The bigs need to be the primary focus offensive and defensively 2) Kobe just needs to finish plays, and shouldn't initiate plays anymore b/c he's not that efficient anymore 3) Ramon sessions should have a bigger role in the offense
They fact of the matter is.. the triangle worked for everyone and it worked effectively. Bring in an assistant to run that. That's the only way they'll all be successful and happy at the same time.
The Lakers tried to run the triangle without Phil in 04-05, and it failed. Unless you have Tex Winters or Phil Jackson's disciples, you can't do it.
I think there's a guy that can run it. Brian Shaw. I honestly don't know why they didn't give him the job after Phil.
Who's to say he can? Rambis was under Phil's tutelage, and he tried to bring that system over to MInny and look what happened. It bombed. The Lakers offense is better now that bynum is more integrated since the all-star break. They have scored over 100 points 11 out of 14 games in March, and 6 straight. Their problem now is defense/rebounding, and that's partly due to their "main" guy now Bynum not dominating that part of the job.
I agree Brian Shaw could run the triangle there but Lakers management wanted a clean break from PJ. Shaw's close association with PJ and the triangle is why he didn't get the job. It's also why no other team in the NBA wanted him. He basically said as much.
He's a superstar. The Rockets would kill to have a player like Bynum. If you disagree, you're lying to yourself.
Superstars should not be immune to criticism and punishments from the coach. If Yao fired a 3 pointer for no reason, then laughed about it on the bench when the game is still extremely close, I'd start questioning his attitude as well.
