The Lakers play at their best when Kobe is making good decisions: when to pass, when to shoot, when to carry the team, and when to relax and let others play their game. For example, the first four games of last years series with the Suns, Kobe wasn't the scoring leader in those games. The games this season where Kobe got 7 or more assist, we played well. However, Kobe has been trusting the team less and less this season. This leads to him taking bad shots, and Lakers losing to bad teams. If Lakers provide Kobe with a strong team that he can trust, we will do well next season.
That's true, certainly. The Lakers have been so poorly developed by Kupchak, and have so little to offer anybody in a trade, though, that I don't see it happening. Assuming a continuation of the Warriors stellar play, and a healthy year for the Hornets, it'll be a struggle for them to get in the playoffs as is.
<div class="quote_poster">Montaman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> and a healthy year for the Hornets, </div> Even when the Hornets lost Paja and there second leading scorer, Chris Paul stepped up and took the Lakers team by himself. We lost what... 3 out of 4 games to the Hornets? And we don't do much better against good teams. It's ridiculous. That game without Paja, Kobe decided they would win no matter what, so he relaxed at the wrong time, and we lost.
<div class="quote_poster">Montaman Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That's true, certainly. The Lakers have been so poorly developed by Kupchak, and have so little to offer anybody in a trade, though, that I don't see it happening. Assuming a continuation of the Warriors stellar play, and a healthy year for the Hornets, it'll be a struggle for them to get in the playoffs as is.</div> I completely agree, the Lakers could very well miss the playoffs next season. Not only do they have to worry about the Hornets, there's also the Clippers, Sonics, and watch out for the Grizzlies next season. The Hornets dealt with a lot of key injuries all season long, but Tyson Chandler really emerged for them as a legit player in the post. He has a coach who believes in him, and Chandler was a force all season for the Hornets. They should be able to add another talented young player in draft lottery. The Sonics had a disappointing season, but this team has a lot of talent. If they can re-sign Rashard Lewis and Chris Wilcox learns how to play consistently, they are good enough to challenge for a playoff spot. The Clippers were probably one of the most disappointing teams last year. Elton Brand wasn't fresh all season because of his Team USA commitment. Sam Cassell didn't play with the same energy from a season prior, Chris Kaman couldn't handle the pressure of his new contract, and Shaun Livingston's freak injury was devastating for the team down the stretch. Despite all of these obstacles the Clippers only missed the playoffs by one game. Memphis has cap room, and if they land Greg Oden or Kevin Durant to play alongside Pau Gasol, this team could get right back in the mix for playoff basketball.
Crap! that means mitch really needs to do his job. although since you are listing all the bad things that happened to the other western teams last season, why not meantion ours, odom had injuries all year, radman needed more time to adjust to our team, plus he was injured, we had smush on our team, kwame got injured. next season most of these things will be cleared up, plus if bynum keeps developing well then i dont see why he wont be playing better and more consistently next season. hopefully we can get ourselves a new point gaurd because farmar isnt ready to lead this team. if we dont have smush next season then i can see us winning 50 games, providing that we upgrade our PG situation. that way kobe can be kobe, and not have to do everything for the team. plus if we get Ron Ron and he doesnt get into to much trouble then we'll be set. last season we closed it out terribly, we were unlucky and we could have won 50 games if it weren't for all our injuries. we are better than the hornets, clippers, grizzlies(they definatly arent making the playoffs) and if we improve our team with a better point gaurd and ron ron, we could be contenders overnight. plus if we do get ron ron then it makes odom less important, we could reel in a good PF or C then we would really be hard to play against. we have the peices to be a great team, all we need is a couple more here and there and we're set, so dont worry laker fans.
What we need is a PG who has good court awarness, who knows when to pass and who to pass to. Then maybe Kwame will start catching the basketball and dunking it. Kobe can pass, but usualy he doesn't set his mind to it. I also agree that there are many teams that will be in the playoff run next year. Plus, Pheonix, and the Texas teams aren't gonna get any worse.
We should be contending for the title next year... I have had enough of us making the playoffs in the last week. This team has to win 50+ games next season. I'm tired of being at ground Zero. As Kobe said, Mitch has to build a contender, Kobe's prime cannot be wasted anymore. We need to land KG or JO and get a decent PG for the triangle. Kobe and Phil and all the Lakers fans are frustrated. At this time next year, i'm hoping to be putting in play by play coments on a Lakers game.
I think the Kwame Brown experiment has ended, not just for the Lakers, but for the entire NBA. I'm not saying definitively that the Lakers won't make the playoffs, I just think the odds became a lot less likely since they made it this year. Obviously everything seems more dramatic and chaotic in a major market like LA, but I have legitimate questions about the Lakers management right now. Jerry West, for all I as a northern California hoops fan absolutely hated the teams he assembled, laid the groundwork for three championships. He managed a perfect balance between his two superstars in their primes, and high quality role players slightly past theirs. While you could blame the Lakers current situation on their perennial contention, it bears remembering that they havent been a serious team since Shaq left. Kupchak should have recognized sooner that some of the moves he made as desperate stopgaps (Vlade Divac, Aaron McKie, Smush Parker) got exposed now that the team has only one superstar who, presuming nothing about his character, commands the ball constantly and needs dead eye shooters around him to take off the pressure. There's one move that, if made, could turn the Lakers fortunes. Were I a Lakers fan, there'd be one name on my lips this draft, and the name would be Acie.
<div class="quote_poster">The Legend Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> We need to land KG or JO and get a decent PG for the triangle. </div> Going back to the topic of good decisions vs. bad decesions, should we trade Bynum? To get KG, JO, and a decent pointguard, the other team will be asking for Bynum. Certainly, he is developing fast with Kareem teaching him. However this is another decision the Lakers have to face. Trade Bynum, get two all-stars, and go for a championship for two years, or let is sit and go for the chanpionship in about three or four years. If we could get our hands on Dwight Howard, we would do really well, but otherwise, KG is the best option. I leave you to your own opinion, but certainly, the Lakers have a lot of decisions to make during this off-season.
<div class="quote_poster">Karl_Mal0ne Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Going back to the topic of good decisions vs. bad decesions, should we trade Bynum? To get KG, JO, and a decent pointguard, the other team will be asking for Bynum. Certainly, he is developing fast with Kareem teaching him. However this is another decision the Lakers have to face. Trade Bynum, get two all-stars, and go for a championship for two years, or let is sit and go for the chanpionship in about three or four years. If we could get our hands on Dwight Howard, we would do really well, but otherwise, KG is the best option. I leave you to your own opinion, but certainly, the Lakers have a lot of decisions to make during this off-season.</div> When the season first began, my answer would have been no. Andrew Bynum was fantastic to start the season and really should a world of improvement from his rookie year. He was actually drawing double and triple teams by the opposing defense, and it opened up the court for everyone else in the offense. What we don't really know about Bynum is work ethic. However, there's been a few indications he isn't committing himself to meet the expectations of the coaching staff and more importantly his teammates. There was the fruit loops incident, where he hid under a desk during practice to eat a bowl of fruit loops because he was hungry. He said he dogged it his rookie year, and regrets not working harder to be in better condition for this season. He doesn't take the initiative to practice on his own. Bynum is not a gym rat, and wasn't showing up to practice unless Kareem Abdul Jabbar scheduled to meet with him. Kareem said, Bynum needs to understand I don't have to be there for him to work on his drills. PJax has joked about his conditioning. Kobe's taken some shots about his conditioning and immaturity. These are concerns for me, because I'm not sure if Bynum is willing to put in the work to become a franchise caliber player. Yeah he's the youngest player in the league, but he doesn't have that fire and competitive edge a lot of other players have. I'm not sure he's worth the wait anymore. The Lakers can't afford to wait for Bynum to just become a solid starter if you have the opportunity to get a proven All-Star. A player with Kobe's talent doesn't come around very often. You know every night what you can expect from Kobe, you better do everything in your power to win with him now and not waste his best years on what might be.
