Comments on: There’s Got To Be A Morning After

By: trestles

trestles — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:12:28 +0000

what a difference a year makes!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:40:04 +0000

Laker Offseason = Addition by Addition. Moving Lamar to the a sixth/swing man role (ala Jamison In Dallas) or having him initiate the ball as a point-forward are great suggestions by Phil and Mitch. Not in a “rumor” way but since Anthony has announced his intentions to be traded if he gets no clear sign from mgmnt that they want him and… Tay Prince was mentioned as one of the pieces in a rejected proposal… Why not go after Tay Prince in trade? I’m assuming that would only happen in a mid-season scenario but he would seem to fill out most of what we need in a SF and… he’s a local.

By: terrence

terrence — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:06:55 +0000

People really need to cool it with the Ron Artest speculation. Even suggesting that the Lakers acquire Ron Artest is heresy, and highly inflammatory. Let’s not forget that Ron Artest is crazy. When I say crazy I mean like one ear bite short of Mike Tyson crazy!! Let’s not forget that Ron Artest single handedly destroyed an entire NBA franchise in Indiana. If we flashback to the fall of 2004, the Pacers were a dominant team, coming off a great regular season where they lost to the eventual champion Pistions in the 2004 eastern conference playoffs. Coming into the 04-05 season they had high expectations. Reggie Miller was giddy and thinking that his time had finally come with all the talent they had on that roster. They had a healthy Jermaine Oneal, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and the great Reggie Miller. They were sitting pretty just like the Lakers appear to be right now. Then all of a sudden the “Malice at the Palace” happens, and Indiana becomes a shell of what it could’ve been or used to be. Artest was gone for the season and Stephen Jackson and J.O. were lost for almost half of the rest of the regular season. Of course the Pacers went belly up from there. Make no mistake Ron Artest did that! Ron Artest, again, is crazy! Most of us here are Laker fans! Our team is young! Why are we sounding so desperate??? We didn’t just win 37 games last season. We won 57 games and made the NBA Finals. We’re just getting started people!! We just need to tweak this roster with a quality veteran presence and a spot duty big man and we’re home free. Some people might follow my post by offering mitigating opinions about Artest, such as him growing up and maturing, or likening him to Dennis Rodman during the second running of the bulls. But really do the Lakers need to roll the dice like this?? Do we even want the remote chance that we become the next Indiana Pacers?? The Pacers still haven’t recovered, and there are no signs that they will recover for the next 3-5 years. So really think hard about what it is you’re asking for when you mention Artest who is a problem himself, as the solution to the Lakers problems. Remember…Artest is CRAZY!!!

By: George

George — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:43:37 +0000

Kurt,

For the record, the player I brought into question is not under contract in Sacramento, New Jersey, Indiana. He is not waffling on whether or not to opt out. No, he is a Spanish player, who recently had his contract bought out by an Eastern Conference team in order to play in the Olympics. He is currently not under contract with any NBA team or any other professional club.

He is a passionate player, who can play both 3 and 4, is able to defend, shoot from deep, and rebound. A player that if he demonstrates that his injuries are behind him, and plays at a high level in the Olympics, I think it would be very fruitful for the Lakers to consider.

I like that you put tight clamps on trade speculation, and I have no interest taking my readership where such a thing is prevalent. But I was not aware of mentioning this particular player was trade speculation even to begin with.

By: Carey

Carey — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:37:42 +0000

Lifetime C’s fan here.

I have to say, I’m very impressed with most of the posters on this board. I’ve checked out a lot of different Laker boards, and this one definitely has the most informed posters.

Obviously, I’m ecstatic about the C’s victory. But I know that our window to win another one is very small.

You Laker fans have a lot to look forward to. Your foundation is still very young…and as long as Kobe is healthy, you have a chance.

From a talent perspective, I don’t really think the Lakers need to make a lot of moves. Offensively, you guys are very talented. However, I DO think most of the improvement should come on the mental side of things.

I felt that the Lakers lacked interior toughness and overall tenacity. If there is an offseason move LA could make, doing something like adding a glue guy in James Posey could work wonders. (As a Celtics fan, I’m desperate for Danny Ainge to pay the man his money…but I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of bidders for this man’s services).

Kobe is already the best player in the world, so I disagree with one of you posters who said that he needs to add 15 lbs of muscle. He isn’t built that way, and it would take away from his game in other ways.

But he needs a consistently reliable option who can take it to the rack. And while I certainly don’t question Kobe’s desire and intensity, I think adding another leader/glue guy (i.e.-James Posey) would take a huge part of the leadership burden off of him and work wonders for your team.

I hope to see you guys in the finals next year!

By: Mico

Mico — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:58:57 +0000

You know what I hate about this offseason? It’s that retooling for the Lakers isn’t really that exciting.

It’s the drafting at 58 part. I mean, mock drafts usually just last until the first round so we’re stuck with a limited amount of laker related things to talk about. (Come on, please tell me anyone who you think the lakers can get at 58, preferably with links to those players’ profiles)

i know that this is actually a good thing since it means that the roster (with the players coming back and maturing and all that) is good enough to contend again for the next season, but I’m really Lakers dry right now. haha

And I guess this is a bit late (with all the thanks coming in the other post), but a big thanks to Kurt, for the site. I’m not really active in posting comments (maybe one or two when I’m really enjoying the discussion) but I’ve been a lurker for a while and I have to say I really enjoyed being here.

Now give me my laker fix!!!

By: Kurt

Kurt — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:54:46 +0000

new post up on the roster. Finally.

By: Ap

Ap — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:28:36 +0000

Lamar has some incredibly skills, we all know that, and his uniqueness is what makes him special. His faults, unfortunately, are part of the pitfalls of this team, however. I do think he can be very, very successful next year if we find out how to utilize his skills.

I don’t think Lamar can play a good 3 in the triangle. He can’t shoot, and he has no confidence in it. With the twin towers (assuming, of course), the lane will be packed as it is. He worked well playing the 4 and playing off of Gasol, to an extent, but he still struggled in the lane, and his tendency to hang out around 18 feet hurt our offensive rebounding, and our floor spacing (since, when he was at the 3 point line, he was useless).

How do we utilize his skills? Easy, put him as the four in the second unit. If we assume a Fish/Kobe/Ariza/Gasol/Bynum starting lineup, I like the lineup with Farmar/Sasha/VladRad/Odom/Turiaf. They can RUN like nobodies business, VladRad helps with the rebounding and will be able to space the floor. Turiaf can work either the low or high post switching off with Lamar. The key to this lineup? Turiaf has to work on his offensive game A LOT, and be able to make plays if they try to stop our shooters. But Lamar would be able to run well, board, and also do a lot of his slashing to the basket against weaker second units and with 3 shooters on the outside. He and Turiaf could also work the high post and get Farmar or Sasha cutting to the basket. I think thats a really, really strong and quick second unit, and would make the best of Lamar’s skills.

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:12:48 +0000

JONESONTHENBA,
Excellent points on Lamar. The thing to remember is that Lamar has a certain personality and his playing style has been consistent since he played at Rhode Island for Jim Herrick. I think he does lack the lateral movement needed to guard good SFs in the NBA and he also tends to cheat a bit to be in position to rebound. Playing with Kobe, this can be a real killer on defense – unless his man misses the shot and Lamar is there to clean up the ball.

I think it is instructive to look back at how Phil used Lamar this year. Much to my irritation, Phil consistently left Lamar in the game well into the 2nd qtr – making him the starter playing the greatest number of consecutive minutes at the start of games. Thus we know Lamar plays well with the 2nd unit. I wouldn’t be surprised if Phil spends time with Lamar over the summer and starts him as the 1st man in off the bench – with Farmar – next year. This frees the Lakers up to have a different 3 matched up with Bynum and Gasol – my guess would be this spot would be Ariza’s to lose in training camp.

Vlade did well at the 4 and I suspect he will be backing up that position next year. I think Sasha and Walton will be pieces to be plugged in where ever needed throughout the game or based on matchups.

By: Apricot

Apricot — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:50:02 +0000

I don’t see a big summer trade of Odom happening. There are too many variables that need to be tried out on the court and that will take the first half of the year. The main obvious questions are

- can Pau and Bynum work well together (I say yes, if Pau finds his set shot again, but this has to be tried)

- will Bynum still be effective post surgery? (Probably, but again we have to see…)

- will Odom work at the 3? (No idea… can he develop a consistent outside stroke? We have to see.) Will he work well with the twin towers? (we’ll see…)

- Can Luke recover a decent outside stroke? (I say yes, but can’t quite see him being a starter)

- Can Vlad get consistent and not space out during games (I say NO, and I would personally advocate moving him to anyone who’ll take him. But he’s just the kind of head case challenge Phil loves.)?

- Can Ariza develop his outside shot to complement his dunk and D game? (I say yes. and that would make him the perfect 3, once he gets the hang of the offense.)

- Can the Lakers improve their team D? (Yes.) Who can contribute to that? (Everyone with the right attitude.)

Two wildcard factors are finances (his contract) and the fact he is the emotional leader of a young team.

OK, I gave my opinions, and I’m sure you have yours. But no one can really say for sure what the answers are. I think the brain trust is going to say, we keep the pieces in question (unless something unbelievable falls out of the grizzly blue sky of course) and experiment in the first half of the season and figure out these answers, and try to keep in the playoff hunt. We see what’s working and what’s not and we keep our ears open for deals. Also keep in mind that Kobe and Pau will be playing Olympics and that will mess up some of Pau’s development and the team preseason, so only game play will help us sort all this.

That’s my guess.