This team can win even without the triangle. I would be assuming Phil will sign a 1-yr extension with this team WHEN Kobe reaffirms his commitment to play out his contract UNTIL he decides in 09 if he wants to stay or not.

I nominate Jeff Van Gundy for this team. Heck I would even appreciate it if he was made a defensive specialist assistant but I think Phil wont appreciate criticizing his defense even though there clearly are gaps to fill.

Of course JVG imposes a boring defensive style of play, but it is rather effective. I was sorry to see him play one of the better centers in Yao but failing due to Tmac’s inability to take it to the next level. A JVG-ran Laker team would maximize Kwame and Bynum’s defensive potentials. Kobe will thrive in this system too.

The triangle is a system, not a call offense most coaches use, so there’s no problem on switching to such an offense as long as the incoming coach adapts the calls to the players at his disposal.

Regarding the PG issue, I think that we have true PG’s with good basketball IQ. They might not be the best at it, but you can survive and win with them…

Those of you who know more about the triangle and coaching in general, am I right to assume that Phil leaving could possibly bring a lot of problems and hard choices for our team?

If the season starts out well, but LO is LO and the Grizzley’s stumble, how about LO + Kwame for Gasol and filler. That way the Griz get $9M off next year and still wind up with Odem as a flex player for one more year – by that time their youngsters should really be making noise.

Oh well! I’m doing just what I complained about. Sorry! I just really think our future is tied to our good drafts the last 3 yrs and I see 4 good players I want to keep – Bynum, Farmar, Turiaf and Crit. Crit to replace Kobe if he goes off the ranch and to use as trade bait if he doesn’t leave. This thinking leads to no trade this year (before FEB) and having a possibly still discontented Kobe.

I too see a mid season trade as not as likely – given our history – but I also see much more pressure on Mitch this year. This, along with a possible availability of Gasol could change our past habits.

At least some of this came from our discussion of the triangle. Renato made very clear the importance of a power forward, and suggested that Odom was a misfit, and Jermaine was not a good candidate. In our previous discussions of KG and JO, the same problem appeared in a different form. I wanted Renato to say whether or not Pau Gasol would fit. He eventually said that Gasol fit the triangle very very well.

You’ve contributed in a different way by looking carefully at financial factors. Both of our comments lead down the slippery slop. Various blogsters suggest opinions about Grizz prospects which lead to Gasol trade prospects. Your discussions about financials also lead to possible trade scenarios.

Warren sometimes suggests various trades to drive home points about value.

I think we’ll have a trade relatively soon–or not until next year. Our history does not support mid season trades–to our detriment.

Wait for the season to get 1/3 done before jumping on bandwaggons.

I thought we were supposed to leave extensive trade discussions to other blogs. How about talking personnel, tactics, and strategy here. What is unique about this blog is the continuing discussion of triangle concepts and other approaches to the game. There are so many coaches here that the offensive/defensive discussions are extremely interesting to read.

As of now, these are all a bunch of speculations. We are only trying to look for a “reason to believe” and these things are not easy to do. The KG trade was unbelievable from Apr07’s standpoint… yet things happen for a reason and indeed the one name nobody expected to be traded is indeed changing jerseys.

Things have a way of falling into place. I mean, I would not dare speculate that Jerry West “saw” the talent there was in Kobe. It was simply a bit of eye, a bit of coincidence, and a bit of luck of course.

The thing with Memphis is, we are trying to evaluate their team for them. Its not something Grizzlies fans appreciate, but its a good look anyway. We are trying to assess the situation that might favor them and us along the way. Which leads me to one more theory – that Memphis will take no less than Odom, Bynum and Brown for Gasol. That will probably be the only reason why they would choose LA’s package over Chicago’s.

While we’re at it, some thought keeps circling my mind. Chicago has 4 young players that are really good and are coveted by other teams. I have reason to believe that these players are ready to take center stage. However, you cannot have 4 players carry your team. Its either 2 of them take a step back (Nocioni and Gordon) as the other 2 take the limelight (Hinrich and Deng) or this team simply wont last as it is.

Have you looked at the Memphis roster? Ten of their 17 players are forwards. They’ve got a great shooting guard/forward and backups. They have 4 pg’s, including JCN and two very high first round picks. They need centers. How many centers or “big bigs” does Chicago have to trade?