A lot of the Lakers' problems last year were thrown onto the starting five's shoulders...how they didn't share the ball, how a few couldn't play the triangle, etc. However, there were problems lying elsewhere...a couple of these being the low shooting percentage of the bench players and their below-average performances when coming in for relief. Looking at a possible lineup, who do you believe will make the biggest impact off the bench next year? Also, aside from who will make the biggest impact...who will perform below their expectations? Starters... C - Vlade Divac ($4,900,000) PF - Lamar Odom ($10,465,000) SF - Caron Butler ($1,920,560) SG - Kobe Bryant ($14,175,000) PG - Chucky Atkins ($4,200,000) Bench... PF - Brian Grant ($13,346,250) C - Chris Mihm ($3,375,000) SG - Kareem Rush ($1,172,446) PG - Sasha Vujacic ($846,840) SF - Luke Walton ($620,046) PF - Slava Medvedenko ($3,000,000) SF - Jumaine Jones ($1,687,500) IR... SF - Devean George ($4,500,000) PF - Brian Cook ($809,300) PG - Nate Johnson ($385,277) SG - Tony Bobbitt ($385,277)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">A lot of the Lakers' problems last year were thrown onto the starting five's shoulders...how they didn't share the ball, how a few couldn't play the triangle, etc. However, there were problems lying elsewhere...a couple of these being the low shooting percentage of the bench players and their below-average performances when coming in for relief. Looking at a possible lineup, who do you believe will make the biggest impact off the bench next year? Also, aside from who will make the biggest impact...who will perform below their expectations? Starters... C - Vlade Divac ($4,900,000) PF - Lamar Odom ($10,465,000) SF - Caron Butler ($1,920,560) SG - Kobe Bryant ($14,175,000) PG - Chucky Atkins ($4,200,000) Bench... PF - Brian Grant ($13,346,250) C - Chris Mihm ($3,375,000) SG - Kareem Rush ($1,172,446) PG - Sasha Vujacic ($846,840) SF - Luke Walton ($620,046) PF - Slava Medvedenko ($3,000,000) SF - Jumaine Jones ($1,687,500) IR... SF - Devean George ($4,500,000) PF - Brian Cook ($809,300) PG - Nate Johnson ($385,277) SG - Tony Bobbitt ($385,277)</div> I think Kareem Rush will do great, knocking down important shots occasionaly. And maybe Sasha, i've heard good things about him, but i've never seen him play, so I don't know. I think most of us already think that Grant will be a dissapointment, but you never know, if he contributes enough and works hard.. like getting really important rebounds, then he could become important to our franchise as well.
I like Luke Walton's game, although Phil does a great job with guys like him. For the money, I'd take him over everyone on the bench. Chris Mihm might also be a factor. Vlade was badly exposed last year, so maybe Mihm will get some playing time. Jumaine Jones sounds like a guy with potential. Not many shooters, that will really hurt this team.
The team is actually a much better perimeter team than from years past. This team has numerous players that can now knock down the jumper consistently, whereas in the past, it's been limited to pretty much Kobe and DFish. This season, they still have Kobe, but they've added Lamar Odom, who has great range. Caron Butler is getting a better and better jump shot all the time. Kareem Rush is maturing as a player now and he has great range. Aside from those three, Atkins is a capable shooter, along with the likes of George, at least when he's not in a funk, Jones, Cook, and Bobbit, who was a great shooter in college, although he was extremely streaky. So, I believe that this team has more perimeter fire power now than ever before. They have a lot of people very capale of knocking jumpers and won't have to rely on just Kobe to hit the open ones now.
I think Jones will do pretty well. He can get rebounds and points of the bench and that's basically all I would want from a bench player along with being the tough dude that he is.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ace:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Jones will do pretty well. He can get rebounds and points of the bench and that's basically all I would want from a bench player along with being the tough dude that he is.</div> I think Jones could be a decent player if given the opportunity. He's not bad, but he needs to have another chance, and he also needs to want to do better...his work ethic isn't the best. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post">The team is actually a much better perimeter team than from years past. This team has numerous players that can now knock down the jumper consistently, whereas in the past, it's been limited to pretty much Kobe and DFish. This season, they still have Kobe, but they've added Lamar Odom, who has great range. Caron Butler is getting a better and better jump shot all the time. Kareem Rush is maturing as a player now and he has great range. Aside from those three, Atkins is a capable shooter, along with the likes of George, at least when he's not in a funk, Jones, Cook, and Bobbit, who was a great shooter in college, although he was extremely streaky. So, I believe that this team has more perimeter fire power now than ever before. They have a lot of people very capale of knocking jumpers and won't have to rely on just Kobe to hit the open ones now.</div> I agree, and this could be just what the Lakers need to get back into the rhythm of winning while their bench is on the court. Last year, Fisher and their bench shot poorly, especially in the playoffs...which could be the ultimate reason why they did so bad against the Pistons (I believe the bench players shot at 30%, maybe less). <div class="quote_poster">Quoting SunshineRain:</div><div class="quote_post">I like Luke Walton's game, although Phil does a great job with guys like him. For the money, I'd take him over everyone on the bench. Chris Mihm might also be a factor. Vlade was badly exposed last year, so maybe Mihm will get some playing time. Jumaine Jones sounds like a guy with potential. Not many shooters, that will really hurt this team.</div> I like Walton. Hopefully he can see more playing time this season, because he was hustling and doing his best while he came off the bench (although he's not fast and has no experience). His passing is top-notch, something I love in basketball players. Mihm will be a factor. I think he just needs to put on a little more muscle and get a winning attitude, and he'll be fine behind Vlade. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Cody 7k:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Kareem Rush will do great, knocking down important shots occasionaly. And maybe Sasha, i've heard good things about him, but i've never seen him play, so I don't know. I think most of us already think that Grant will be a dissapointment, but you never know, if he contributes enough and works hard.. like getting really important rebounds, then he could become important to our franchise as well.</div> Kareem Rush needs to find his shot. He shoots well when he's on fire, but like you said, it's "occasionally" and that's not going to get him a starting role later on down the road. Grant will do good...he was a starting center last year for the Heat, and he did well. Now that he'll be playing power forward, his natural position, he'll be stronger and have easier matchups that won't put too much emphasis on his bad knees.
im expecting rush,walton and sasha to come off the bench and provide this Laker team the boost they need. im guessing that George and Grant are gonna be the ones that are gonna perform badly.
I guess it's my turn to answer my own question. Let's see... I like Kareem Rush and Luke Walton as two guys off the bench. Walton proved to me that he can really get into the game and make an impact right off the bat. His passes are just nasty. He's going to have to develop NOW, because his contract is almost up...and the Lakers can't afford to lose Walton for nothing. Kareem Rush has hit some big shots, including a streak of threes last season, which has impressed me also. Kobe is his mentor, so he's going to eventually adopt parts of Kobe's style of play (not saying he'll be as good). This will make him better, however, learning from possibly the best shooting guard in the league. A guy I don't see making much of a difference is Jumaine Jones. He's got potential and was said to be a really good athlete...but he just doesn't have the desire to become a better player, and if that is missing, there's not much hope after that. I'm almost ready to say that Brian Cook will be in the lineup, and Jones will be placed on the IR...I'm not sure yet...guess it depends on if Malone comes back or not.
