<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Here's the best way to explain it: Everybody wants to talk about talent ? or more accurately, lack of talent. That's an issue, but who cares? Seriously, who cares? Dig into the muck that was the Lakers' season, and there's the root of the failure: Who among the Lakers' players truly cared ? about being the best he could be individually and being committed to the team's best? The answers speak to why trading Caron Butler for Brown hasn't worked, why Ronny Turiaf has succeeded Butler as Bryant's guy and why Bynum needs to be traded. <font size=""4"">Who cared: Bryant, Odom, Turiaf, Luke Walton</font>. Who sort of cared: Maurice Evans, Jordan Farmar, Aaron McKie, Sasha Vujacic. Who didn't care: Kwame Brown, Bynum, Brian Cook, Smush Parker, Vladimir Radmanovic, Shammond Williams. "There's a certain sense of dedication that players have to the game and to their responsibilities," Coach Phil Jackson said. "Kobe matches that in all points. He sometimes overmatches it. And the intensity he brings to the game is sometimes not on a level guys can live up to. That frustration, more than anything else, is why our team didn't survive and flourish, even though we had injuries. "Even though guys came back at the end of the year, that was the disrupting element. Guys didn't work hard enough. There was some selfishness that came along with it." Kupchak likes to remind that the Lakers were the 10th-youngest NBA team, and that is part of it. The 15-man roster rather unbelievably featured only one married man: Bryant. <font size=""4"">The Lakers need to find some experienced husbands who understand that a lot of life is about playing team ball.</font> You can't expect Bynum to get that. You just grow alarmed when Tex Winter talks about the work required of preps making it as pros and compares Bynum not to Bryant ? but to Brown. You remember that Bynum slogged through high school overweight and under the radar, then dropped 30 pounds only when the NBA beckoned. You notice that he happily got the PlayStation3 the day it came out ? by making someone else wait in line overnight for him. All this is why Jackson smirked a little Friday when he mentioned Bynum's goal of being an All-Star within two seasons. Meanwhile, you've got the whole NBA world believing the kid could be Kareem.</div> Source: OCRegister Not surprising, and those are the four core players the Lakers need to build this team around, by surrounding them with more players who CARE about winning. The list of names of players who didn't care should be shipped out. Hardwork beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard.
<div class="quote_poster">bronbron23 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think Maurice Evans should stay</div> He's signed for one more year so he'll be with the team unless traded. I also like Mo Evans, he's a nice offensive spark off the bench. He really perfected making the 3 point shot from the right and left baselines. He's also a much better rebounder (especially offensively) than I thought he'd be. I'm sure he frustrated a few times, especially after his injuries started catching up with him. He needs to work on his ballhandling and decision making, but he's an ideal backup for Kobe.
Kwame didn't care? He was injured all year, I don't think we can judge him. Bynum? He sort of cared, he started out strong, he just wore down. He's still not conditioned for the NBA game. Building around Kobe, Luke, and Odom isn't going to make this team any better. Luke's a decent role player who disappears a lot. Odom's a B rate player who disappears, a lot as well. Building around Turiaf? He's an improved version of Mark Madsen. We've got one player who isn't expendable, his name is Kobe Bryant. We need to get the right people to build around him.
walton neads to be shipped out, he is trade bait that we can use to aquire better players. bynum, walton and kwame for a KG or JO. i think JO would be a ggod fit for this team because he plays strong in the center position aswell as PF, KG also does, but he is more like Odom in that he plays a SF/PF kind of game. plus JO is a terrific defender. but eitrher one of these two would make us contenders, without a doubt.
Dude Walton is the best thing the Lakers have going for them other than wonder-boy. He know's the offense, Phil Jackson trusts him, he gets better every year and he cares. When I'm watching the Lakers there are two players I watch and know a good play will be made, Kobe and Luke Walton. Sometimes I'm even more comfortable with the ball in Walton's hands. He may not be the most gifted player, but in the triangle he's great. You trade him and you trade LA's best play maker. Oh and one more thing- no way you're going to get equal talent back. Luke's got things you can't teach- like bball I.Q. which sadly, Lamar Odom doesn't really have.
<div class="quote_poster">Mamba:</div><div class="quote_post"> Luke's a decent role player who disappears a lot.</div> The dude got injured, and then dislocated his pinky finger to play through the playoffs. Of course inconsistency is going to be expected. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mamba:</div><div class="quote_post">Odom's a B rate player who disappears, a lot as well.</div> At the beginning of the season he wasn't. However, after an ankle, shoulder, elbow, and knee injury, he disappeared. Add on the loss of his child. BUT, that's no excuse. Right? Though, don't get me wrong, I'd still ship him for a better piece. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Kwame didn't care? He was injured all year, I don't think we can judge him. Bynum? He sort of cared, he started out strong, he just wore down. He's still not conditioned for the NBA game. </div> Wait, wha?!? What about Odo... ....I'll just move along. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mamba:</div><div class="quote_post">Building around Turiaf? He's an improved version of Mark Madsen. </div> No way you're serious. Turiaf brings a lot more things to the table than Madsen. That's like comparing Shaq to Andrew Declerq. Anyway, my thoughts on the article: I think Shammond cared more than Sasha, especially with Shamu's heart and hustle off the bench. I think it's too early to say whether or not Jordan Farmar "cared". The guy played pretty decent for a rook. Also, didn't we hear him picking up the Triangle faster than anyone? The rest of the article is dead on, though.
<div class="quote_poster">The One & Only Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> I think it's too early to say whether or not Jordan Farmar "cared". The guy played pretty decent for a rook. Also, didn't we hear him picking up the Triangle faster than anyone?</div> It's pretty well documented that this guy is a gym rat and was constantly working on his game when it started slipping. He also didn't give the team a hard time when they sent him down to the D-League and played in back-to-back games in the same day. I doubt anyone else on this team could've handled it that well if they were in the same position, aside from probably Luke and Ronny. And I can easily see Smush or Cook throwing a fit. I think it's safe to say that he did care.
