Don't know if this will have any telling correlation to how the regular season plays out, but I've noticed in the preseason, Gasol has been out in the high post OFTEN like 75% often. Much how the Triangle is similar to Adelman's offense, Gasol runs a lot of the offense when he's in the high post and Bynum down in the low post. This naturally takes Gasol's effectiveness which is his low post game out of the equation in favor of Bynum's low post game which you can argue is worse than Pau's at the moment. Looking at the box scores of the Lakers' preseason games, Gasol is averaging only 5-7 shots per game while Bynum is around 10-12. Hopefully, this will pose problems for the Lakers offensively in their bad spacing. Then it looks like Radmanovic is starting with Odom/Ariza coming off the bench. This is probably a move to better the spacing on the court, but Radmanovic is a huge defensive liability as evidenced in the Finals when he looked two steps slower than Pierce. I definitely think young teams that look to score in transition will give this Lakers team HUGE FITS. I wish Baron was still on the Warriors so they can take the Lakers out ala the Mavs. Of the playoff contenders, I think the Jazz will give the Lakers huge fits much like how they've done to the Rockets in the past. Bynum will be forced to guard Memo who camps at the 3, and if Boozer was anything like how he was two years ago, he will tear Pau a new one. And if the Lakers decide to switch it up, the results may still be the same. Having Odom back in the starting lineup and sending either Gasol or Bynum to the bench would be a better lineup in terms of matchups and spacing imo. But would Gasol, who was a star player in Memphis, or Bynum, who apparently wanted a max contract during the offseason, would ever sacrifice to come off the bench? We all know Odom is already upset with his current role. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I don't think the Lakers will be what many of the national pundits say they'll be. And given the abundance of alpha male personalities on the team (Phil, Kobe, Odom, Bynum), seeing the Lakers team implode ala the Dallas Cowboys, if the season begins awry, may be something to really consider. Apologize for the long post, but thought it'd be something worthy of discussion. Damn, can't wait for the season to start!
i really don't think bynum and gasol can play together offensively. bynum needs the low post to be effective b/c clearly he can only dunk right now. and if you take gasol out of the low post, he's even softer than he already is. so it's gonna be interesting how phil uses these 2 guys. bynum wants a max contract. he isn't gonna be satisfied putting up 13-14 pts and playing defense.
They have all season to work things out. I don't expect the Lakers to play their best ball until the 2nd half of the season. It's obvious from the pre-season they have a lot of kinks to fix. But I think a starting lineup of Bynum, Pau, Radman, Kobe, Fisher backed up by Odom, Ariza, Vujacic, Farmar and with Mihm/Mbenga getting spot minutes is clearly the best lineup in the NBA. Pau is versatile and will adapt his game to Bynum, not the other way around. Whoever ends up starting at SF needs to space the floor, which is why Radman makes the most sense. A lot of times he won't play more than 10-15 mins but that's all they need from him. Farmar looks like a brand new player. For a 2nd unit they can slide Pau to C, insert Odom at PF, [name your player] at SF and bring in Farmar & Vujacic. This squad will push the ball hard and blow open a lot of games early in the 2nd quarter and in late 3rd/early 4th quarter situations. I see no reason the Jazz will give the Lakers any problems. I think the Lakers are tailor made to beat the Jazz. When Radman is in the game, Bynum will be on the floor. He will make up for Radman getting beat off the dribble. Odom has already accepted his role off the bench. Since then, he's played relaxed and energetic. Please don't take this wrong and understand I'm a diehard Rockets fan. But anyone who takes a reasoned look and still thinks the Rockets are better than the Lakers is crazy IMO. They are the one team in the NBA that is clearly better than us. Fortunately all of this will be settled on the court.
I don't see where you are going with these comments. Unless you think Bynum makes this team worse, I see no reason to question the Lakers' potential. You think they will struggle with the Jazz but they just knocked the Jazz out of the playoffs a few months ago - something we haven't been able to do for two years in a row. As far as your analysis of how they plan to use Gasol, Odom, Radmanovic, etc..., you seem to be assuming that they will run a static offense and that nothing will change in-game or from game to game, e.g., Gasol will only be in the high post, Radmanovic is locked in as the starter, etc... I wouldn't make any of these assumptions. It does seem like Jackson plans to start Radman but I doubt anything is etched into stone at this point. If things aren't working or there are matchups to exploit on a game-to-game basis, or within a game, I'm pretty sure Jackson will make the necessary adjustments. That team is as deep as any in the league and has a number of options/player combinations at their disposal. I, too, watched part, or all, of a few of their preseason games and, at times, saw a dynamic, smooth-flowing offense that was almost effortlessly dominating the game for stretches. Meanwhile, we are still searching for some kind of consistency running Adelman's "read and react/motion-based" offense with our first game right around the corner. At least we should be able to count on our defense, as usual, especially once Battier gets back on the court. Again, I guess I'm just totally missing your point. The Lakers finished first last season in arguably the most competitive conference in league history then followed that up by battling all the way through the best of the West to get to the NBA Finals. They had to play teams like the Jazz and Spurs while the the Celtics took a lighter path, facing Leastern teams like the Hawks and the Cavs, even if they did struggle more than expected to knock them off. The way I see it, the Lakers will be at least as good this season, and probably better, with the return of Bynum and Gasol having had more time to get acclimated to the team. They have tremendous length, great depth at every position and a potent, dynamic offense that will unlikely be matched by any other team in the league. Their defense, specifically in transition and against the pick-and-roll, will likely be suspect once again but no matter how you twist it, this isn't a team that can be taken lightly. They are the favorites going into this season and for good reason. They earned it.
Hah, I didn't notice that. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure the thread starter is just trying to rationalize that the Rockets are a better team, even if he doesn't say so explicitly. I do the same thing myself every few days. If the Rockets are, in fact, the better team, the only place to prove that is on the hardwood. We will be superior, defensively. The question is whether we can finally make some real progress at the other end. Simply put, we need to score more points and do it more efficiently. It's hard to imagine that our offense won't improve significantly given the new additions and a year with Coach A under our belts but the question is "Will it be enough?". Rockets fans also know as well as anybody what an injury or two can do to a season. A_3PO offered some great anlaysis a few posts above but I won't concede that the Lakers are the better team yet, even on paper. Sure, they will be an offensive juggernaut and they are loaded with talent, length and depth but I truly believe we have the potential to be a more well-rounded team. The Lakers couldn't get past the Celtics last season and we are probably the team most similar to the Celtics going into this season, at least in theory. Not due to the whole "Big 3" aspect nearly as much as the fact that defense will still be our bread 'n butter no matter how much Coach A can get this team to grow, offensively. He knows the importance of defense and recognizes that defense is still our strength. His greatest challenge will be to get the offense clicking. If that happens, look out.
I don't know why everyone is predicting Lakers is going to be something big this season. Didn't they got their azz handed to them by the Boston last year?? And yet all these pundits just don't get it!! Also, i do not think Lakers can do a damm thing to the Rockets when Yao is playing!! They're dominating because without Yao...it's pretty easy to be dominated actually by ANY team.
Just to be fair, didn't our point differential improve after Yao went down last season? Or was it some other stat? I'm not trying to prove that Yao isn't valuable, just that we're not as helpless as some may think when he's not playing. Right now, it's a different story because we don't have a legit backup but I am fairly sure Wiz GM will have that taken care of in the next few months.
We are imo a much better ball club than the lakers. LA's defense doesn't even come close to our own, and eveyone here should know that it takes exactly 2 years to master Adelman's offense. This is huge because, barring injury, we will be playing our very best basketball heading into the playoffs. Artest has played in this offense before and Sac ran a lot of the same things Rick installed there. Barry is also ahead of almost anyone in this offense so our new acquisitions will not face a steep learning curve. I'm not entirely sure what you guys are seeing out of our offense this preseason, but I have witnessed an almost unstoppable offense. It may not have fully clicked just yet, but give it time because believe me it's there. Our bench also dominates their bench. We gave the Jazz a run for their money without Yao and with Rafer missing games, and if we had those two we beat Utah. I saw Kobe fold under the defense of James Posey and Paul Pierce. How do you think he'll fare against Battier and Artest? Also keep in mind that our offense sucked last year and we shot the 3 ball worse than almost any team in the league and still managed to win on heart and guts alone. That changes this year with the talent we've added, steps our players have taken, and finally being able to organically run this offense. I love the rockets, but some of the fans on here either don't know their basketball, or more likely have become bitter from all the heart break.
Let the game talk, not their style of play. A good coach will maximize team and player utility, a bad one will throw in all the good players on the court at the same time believing it is always the best solution to winning.
Wow, even though the Western Conference playoffs turned out to be largely disappointing, the Lakers still proved to be the best in the most competitive conference ever. I hate the Lakers as much as most of the other Rockets fans, but I don't see how anyone could go off disrespecting the WC champions.
If they do the "Okur camping at 3pt line drawing Yao out" tactic, they can just have Gasol guard Okur rather then having Bynum come out to guard him.
Gasol can be very effective in the high post. He's got a good jumper, and he's capable of putting it on the floor from that position. He's a very good passer for a big. I think the Bynum/Gasol combination will be very potent. Maybe the best C/PF combo in the league.
Better to let things play out for themselves first before calling them overrated or the next NBA champs. They're an elite team. Simple as that.
no i am not rationalizing that the rockets are better than the lakers. Because at the moment they're not. The Rockets are not better than the Spurs, the Hornets, the Jazz, the Celtics either. I'm one of the few posters on this board much like you who are remaining realists until they prove it out on the court. I just wanted to make a point that if for some reason the Lakers run into some trouble at the beginning of the season, I can see the locker room imploding much like what's going on with the Cowboys. Let's face it, the NBA would love to have another Lakers Celtics matchup, and they would love to have the Lakers win it all. And of course, deservedly so since the Rockets have not proven a thing. And to Lamar Odom's inclusion under alpha male, that was a typo. I meant to say he was of the selfish bunch.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m_N1OjGhIFc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/m_N1OjGhIFc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> the thread reminds of this lol
Let me see, they are the defending west champion. They add a 7ft athletic dude, and you are trying to sell they'll get worse?
I think the way they lost in the Finals will effect them more than people think. Kind of like how the Mavs were never the same team after losing to GSW in the first round.
