Assuming no moves..

[LakersN4]

Sasha & Ronny both signed.. Joe & Coby in the dleague..

Do we bring Odom off the bench?

We've all talked & talked about how badly we're going to need shooting @ the 3 with the twin towers in the paint.. If no moves are made for this shooter/defender everyone wants, do we start Radman?

We all know SF's beat Rad off the dribble all day.. But what alot of people fail to realize is that we're going to have Andrew Bynum back. A fair comparision would be Peja in New Orleans. His man torches him all day but it doesn't kill the team because they have Tyson Chandler back there to make them wish they took the contested jumper. Not only do we have Drew, who is on par with Chandler with blocks/altered shots.. We also have a 7 foot PF who averages 1.8 blocks per game for his career.

To me that means when Vlade's shot is falling, the spacing he will provide outweighs the liability on D.

Another reason I think Vlade should start is because we're going to need LO to play alot of PF. Bynum at the max will only be able to give us around 30 minutes per game, probably even less at the start of the season. Not only because of being careful with the knee, but due to the conditioning he lost all this time sitting out. I would much rather have Pau play those 18+ minutes Drew isn't at center than Ronny or Mihm(if he even dresses at all this year). Lets face it without any 2 of LO, Drew & Pau on the floor we will get murdered on the glass, I couldn't count how many rebounds I watched go over Ronny's head this year.

So lets say Drew gives us 30 MPG & Pau gives us 35 MPG going by his career average - with them being split evenly between PF & backup C. That leaves 31 minutes where Pau won't be playing PF for us. Lamar plays 37-38 MPG, so he could come off the bench at PF & still get the same amount of minutes while only having to play SF for 6-7 minutes a game. Spending most of his time at the position he thrives in & creates so many mismatches.

Now the problem.. This leaves Vlade & Trevor splitting atleast 40 MPG at SF. We have our defender & our lights out shooter, just not all in one player. If either or both of them are having bad games, I think our solution is sliding Kobe to the 3 giving the Machine some extra minutes to remind us why we gave him this contract he's seeking.


If no more moves are made except bringing back our own guys.. Is the answer to our problems bringing LO off the bench? Would you be happy with the scenario I laid out? Could we win the Chip like that? What would your rotations be?

[SignPippenNow]

If no moves and they go with this roster, I think you will see a lot of shifting around at F. No moves means Pau or Ronny are going to play some center too no matter how healthy Mihm is. Ariza is going to play more. I could see the minutes being shifted around but I see Odom starting, but maybe playing a few less minutes due to other forwards. If they do resign Ronny and do plan to play Ariza more as they stated,,, I see no way they can't move either Walton or Radman. There simply isn't enough minutes there otherwise. I think Odom starts but who knows. I could see him coming off bench if Artest had come over via free agency. To be honest, I think it would be a huge mistake not to move a forward or two.. No matter how much they preach keeping this roster intact, I still think they make at least one trade.

[LakersN4]

[KGB]

That's what we need. NO MOVES!
_________________


LAKER DYNASTY STARTS FEB 1 2008...

A.K.A. 8got81_24gets101

"We the best! Know that, don’t think it, know it! Its our turn! It's our championship! Our season! Lets go out here and make a statement! Its our turn now! Let's go!"

[nicehair911]

We can try Odom off the bench Phil can convince him to play a 6th man role and be the leader off the bench and heck, maybe he'll bite and do a good job in that role.
_________________


"Michael Jordan once said that there's a right way and wrong way to practice basketball. He said that it doesn't matter if you practice eight hours a day-if you're practicing the wrong way, all you're doing is getting really good at doing the wrong things"
-Adam Robinson on the SAT

[Jajwa]

If he plays PF off the bench yes, at SF not quite. I like using lineups that work. If he's most effective as a PF then keep Lamar as a PF.

At PF he's an above average if not top 12-14ish PF in the league.

At SF he could possibly be complete doo-doo.

[Aceiz2fresh]

if we don't even try odom at 3
I think it would be Very very stupid..

why not atleast try this big front-court??

And i would be semi-disappointed if no moves are made
_________________

www.myspace.com/aceiz2ill

[Jajwa]

We will try it. I think it'll be pretty obvious if it can work or not.

It's also obvious that while we tinker with the lineup we can still have Radmanovic play SF with Bynum at C and Gasol at PF and we'll get PLENTY of wins.

They'll find a solution for Lamar eventually.

They need to find a cheaper solution to a backup SG than Sasha. His clone, Gordan Giricek would be a good start. Brent Barry would be just fine as well.

Whichever one accepts the BAE would be the best signing. Personally I think Giricek was always more talented than advertised and would love the shots available to him in the triangle.

The next year we can draft a legitimate SG/SF in the first round.

[LakersN4]

[Jajwa]

Considering that Bynum will be playing:

- 30 mpg at C

Gasol

- 34 mpg total (likely 18 of them at C)

Turiaf

- a good 8 mpg is not unreasonable for him, he was playing 10 mpg in the playoffs even as the main backup big man.

Odom

- Odom would have 26 mpg available to him as the backup big man.

If Turiaf leaves to go to another team, Lamar will have even more minutes available. Unless it's a strange night, Lamar would get 36 mpg at PF with a guy like a Dan Gadzuric being the backup C or Kwame or hell who even cares about this?

Point is that Odom will have his playing time reduced in the best interests of the team. With Odom and Turiaf on the bench the Lakers have the best frontline and depth rotation in the league. If Odom complains, then he can get shipped out.

[Aceiz2fresh]

lamar odom is not a player thats coming off the bench.
im pretty sure that won't happen
_________________

www.myspace.com/aceiz2ill

[lakerfan2]

[borri]

If no off-season moves?

1. Experiment starts with the LO, Pau, Bynum lineup.....with LO at SF.

2. If it doesn't work, LO's expiring WILL be dealt at the trade deadline. Mitch will be a complete idiot to just let 14 mil in expiring walk if and WHEN the LO at SF experiment doesn't work.
_________________

[borri]

[KOBEhastheMAGIC]

[mapabu1]

No because you want to see if he can play the small forward. If you put him on the bench it means you don't think he can and if you don't think he can you probably should have traded him in the first place.

[borri]

[sleepin4matty]

[Jajwa]

I expect him to be our primary backup big man next year at PF and play close to 25 mpg. Maybe just maybe they'll play him for 5 mpg at SF but that's really it.

After that he'll find that next year's FA market isn't anything extraordinary. The Lakers will offer him 7-8m and he will return. Bank on it.

We get our highly efficient 14/10 ball handling PF back to be a Laker for life and we stop trying to play him at SF.

[Helljumper]

If there are no moves, Odom stays in the starting line up. If he gets injured, then I'd want Ariza filling in as the starting SF.
_________________

[Kobe>Jordan]

[nayrbakwerdz]

odom has to start..thats the whole idea to have the biggest front court ever..if we're scoring inside and playing good d, then who needs shooters..our offense will be good no matter what..i think odom will of course be the 4th option and maybe be the first or second one off to the bench..he will start though.

[radhys syob]