Perhaps you could get Sam Cassel without giving up Kobe and Lamar if Minnesota trades for Jason Kidd. I haven't had a chance to watch more than 3 or 4 Lakers games this year, but I really think Kobe is doing too much. Not saying its his fault, but by being forced to be the primary playmaker his scoring is suffering and turnovers are going way up. And in crunch time, it'll be more difficult for him to make plays because he's exhausted. I think GP's critique of Paul Pierce in Boston may also hold true for Kobe. The Lakers as a team need to get Kobe more baskets in the flow of the offense.
A PG, IMO, is the most important piece for the type of offense the Lakers want to run. Not just any PG neither, you need a stud a la Nash or Kidd.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">Perhaps you could get Sam Cassel without giving up Kobe and Lamar if Minnesota trades for Jason Kidd.</div> Yeah, haha...I mentioned this a while back, also...when Cassell was having problems with management in Minny, something about his extension if I remember correctly. He won two rings with Rudy T...and he's a shooter, maybe not a pass-first point, but he doesn't have a problem with throwing assists, either.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, haha...I mentioned this a while back, also...when Cassell was having problems with management in Minny, something about his extension if I remember correctly. He won two rings with Rudy T...and he's a shooter, maybe not a pass-first point, but he doesn't have a problem with throwing assists, either.</div> I wasn't even thinking about the Rudy T connection, but that could be big. Sam probably wouldn't want to be traded to yet another team, but if he gets to play for Rudy he might be willing to accept that. Sam is one of the great fourth quarter players in the game, and he'll take a lot of pressure off Kobe as far as handling the ball down the stretch and getting him open looks. Obviously, the ideal situation would be a fast-break machine like Kidd or Nash playing in LA, but I think Cassell could also be a nice fit. Though, honestly, there's a pretty slim chance it'll happen. You can have Tyronne Lue if you still want him, though. Free of charge.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">I wasn't even thinking about the Rudy T connection, but that could be big. Sam probably wouldn't want to be traded to yet another team, but if he gets to play for Rudy he might be willing to accept that. Sam is one of the great fourth quarter players in the game, and he'll take a lot of pressure off Kobe as far as handling the ball down the stretch and getting him open looks. Obviously, the ideal situation would be a fast-break machine like Kidd or Nash playing in LA, but I think Cassell could also be a nice fit. Though, honestly, there's a pretty slim chance it'll happen. You can have Tyronne Lue if you still want him, though. Free of charge. </div> We'll take Lue...if you add Yao, and we give you Tierre Brown and Vlade.
The blunders of not having a real PG, Raptors have had this problem for how many years now, till this year of course, Boston has had this till this year, and Orlando had this after Darrell Armstrong left, having a real PG really opens things up for everyone on the team. It's going to be tough I can say that because we had this problem last season, but at least Chucky can shoot Speedy Claxton would be a good addition to the Lakers, tough defense, can score, can breakdown the defense and create, doesn't have a 3 point shot though, and has injury problems.
Kobe is my favorite player as you all can see, but I'm not a very big fan of the Kobe we're seeing in recent games. He's trying to do way too much, and it's effecting his whole offensive game. He's taking horrible shots when it's totally unneccesary. When the Suns started creeping up again, Kobe started jacking up some tough shots that he should have never taken. The ball is in his hands 90% of the time, and it seems like when he does score he never gets his teammates involved, because he just holds it and jacks up the shots. Kobe is making it MUCH harder on himself and I can't see us playing any better than we are if we keep going through him EVERY posession. It seems like the only time Kobe does "trust" his teammates is to make shots in the first three quarters of the games, and then starts taking all the shots when it's clutch time. Kobe <u>needs</u> to trust his teammates in other ways, such as letting them handle the ball and setting up plays. Odom has done that throughout his career and he can make the game much easier for Kobe, as can Butler. Rudy really needs to talk to Kobe, because if he keeps this style of play up along with 5TOs a game, the Lakers aren't going anywhere this season.
^Yeah I feel on that. He getting double digits in assists and all but he doesn't trust his teammates in these kinda situations. Yeah I still can't believe they let this one go crap. The people who think the Suns are overrated are being proved wrong so far.
THe Lakers were in this thing till the very end....... They let the game slip away just like the game against the Kings.
A Closely played game that could have been won by the Lakers. Does anyone here think that if the Lakers had a dominating PG,than the Lakers could have won more games??
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe is my favorite player as you all can see, but I'm not a very big fan of the Kobe we're seeing in recent games. He's trying to do way too much, and it's effecting his whole offensive game. He's taking horrible shots when it's totally unneccesary. When the Suns started creeping up again, Kobe started jacking up some tough shots that he should have never taken. The ball is in his hands 90% of the time, and it seems like when he does score he never gets his teammates involved, because he just holds it and jacks up the shots. Kobe is making it MUCH harder on himself and I can't see us playing any better than we are if we keep going through him EVERY posession. It seems like the only time Kobe does "trust" his teammates is to make shots in the first three quarters of the games, and then starts taking all the shots when it's clutch time. Kobe <u>needs</u> to trust his teammates in other ways, such as letting them handle the ball and setting up plays. Odom has done that throughout his career and he can make the game much easier for Kobe, as can Butler. Rudy really needs to talk to Kobe, because if he keeps this style of play up along with 5TOs a game, the Lakers aren't going anywhere this season.</div> Yes he's been dominating the ball way too much, he has it in his hands basically ALL the time while he's on the floor offensively, maybe it's the coaches plan though [I don't know?], and if it is then they need to work on some better strategies to open him up more and make the team's offense more efficient. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A Closely played game that could have been won by the Lakers. Does anyone here think that if the Lakers had a dominating PG,than the Lakers could have won more games??</div> You could say that for a lot of teams, and yes, of course, having better players most of the time will make you a better team.
yes! another thing we need is concistency through out the whole game, we cant come out playing like champions for three quorters and then in forth get stumped by teams.
What I know from the games that I've watched is that the Lakers are talented and are capable of running with the best teams out there. Consistency and a few key additions to the team are needed for a championship run, but it is within their reach.
