The Lakers once again have one of the most flexible lineups in the NBA. Most of our players can produce at two or more positions and with Artest in the mix PJax has a lot of directions he can take in regards to lineup rotations. A lot of us have assumed Artest will start alongside Fisher, Kobe, Gasol & Bynum, but looking at PJax track record he is more comfortable using Triangle experienced players with knowledge of his system ahead of more talented players. Last season Ariza didn't crack the starting lineup until March even though he was clearly more talented than Luke Walton or the Space Cadet. Can Artest learn the offense well enough for PJax to start him ahead of Luke or Odom? Or do we see Artest coming off the bench until PJax is comfortable with him running the Triangle? There was also a stat favoring Luke. I think the Lakers were undefeated or nearly a perfect record when he played 19+ minutes. In the post season the Lakers most effective lineup had Odom with Gasol on the front line. We haven't heard much about Bynum's status this summer. Has he fully recovered mentally and physically? Has he added anymore leg strength? Does he have his explosive leap back? I know the front office wants to limit Gasol and Kobe minutes in the regular season to have them fresh for another Championship run. I don't think Powell or Mbenga are good enough to be normal rotation players and long term the Lakers might be better served with Bynum coming off the bench to preserve leads the first team generates. Bynum was all about scoring in the playoffs last season and didn't give any effort defending the rim and grabbing rebounds. You also have to wonder about his health issues. I know both knee accidents were fluke injuries, but he has displayed fatigue during games and doesn't sprint back a lot of times to be in position to make a play. Who should our starting 5 be? Who should our closing 5 be?
good question. A lot depends on Rons ability to pick up the triangle and Bynum's health and improvement. I am going to say we will start games: Fish,Kobe,Ron,Pau,Bynum and we will end games: Fish, Kobe, Ron, Lamar, Pau I assume Fish will start and finish games, but I hope that Farmar/Brown combine for more minutes/game than him. Keep him fresh, and let the youngsters do the leg work. I also think that Lamar will be finishing games because Bynum has not seemed to embrace his role as defender of the rim, and has had plenty of foul troubles when he does. Of course if Bynum can play like January Bynum for a whole season, then may God have mercy on the rest of the league. God I love being a Laker fan.
I'm still not sold on Artest as a Laker so I'd like to see him start the season coming off the bench. He really played well for Houston last year as a 6th man at the start of the season. With that said, I dont feel it would be too smart to bring both Ron & Lamar off the bench. I was going to say to start Lamar in the small forward slot and swap him out with Artest as the season progresses but thats a horrible idea. Lamar more than anyone needs his role to stay consistent on this team. Every combination I think up there is 1 or 2 other guys on the bench that I feel might fit in better. I guess thats the problem that comes with having this much talent. So maybe Ron needs to be a starter from the get go........... I guess it would look something like this: Starting Fish Kobe Ron Gasol Bynum Finishing Fish Kobe Ron Lamar Gasol
Starting: Fisher - Kobe - Ron - Gasol - Bynum Closing: Fish - Kobe - Ron - Gasol - Odom/Bynum (whoever wins the spot)
Starters: Fish- Kobe-Ron-Pau-Bynum Closers: Fish-Kobe-Ron-Odom-Gasol As what you guys said, I would want that Farmar and Shannon combine for more minutes than Fisher, and also, if Bynum goes back to January Bynum, then the closing spot is his. Even though Ron-Ron is new to the triangle, I believe he just has too much talent to just keep on the bench with Lamar, which is why I think he will still start. It'd be funny to see a line-up of: Kobe-Artest-Lamar-Gasol-Bynum. lol
that would be funny. I dont think it would work, but it would be funny to see us get every rebound on the court. I think a lineup of Kobe, Ron, Luke, Lamar, Pau could actually compete and would be entertaining as hell to watch.
I'd like to see what Shannon can do, I could see him starting or finishing really. He's got all the tools to flourish with us.
Kobe and Pau will definitely finish. I'm guessing Ron is a lock as well. I like Shannon, but I don't really see Phil benching Fish when the game's winding down, given his experience and his history of making clutch shots. It really just bottles down to either Drew or LO. If Drew can play at a high level this year and stay healthy, there should be no reason why he shouldn't finish the game. As for the starting 5? Fish-Kobe-Ron-Pau-Drew. Don't see any reason why that should change, barring injury.
Fish almost lost it last year, I could see Shannon run past him. As good as Derek is offensively Shannon isn't too bad and I appreciate Brown's energy on D.
