Comments on: Did We Learn Much?

By: J.D. Hastings

J.D. Hastings — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:00:52 +0000

30- Not for preseason I haven’t. For reg season I buy the package. Its not cheap the first time you get it, but afterwards, its kind of impossible not to have it.

I’ve always noticed the large Laker contingent in the bay area but took it as a sign of the heavy traffic between the two areas. I know a huge number of LA transplants up here, which I think is part of what drives some of the local animosity towards all LA teams. On the other hand its easy to like the Warriors because they’ve never really been a threat.

But when we got Gasol during the road trip last year, it became very clear that there is just a large Laker Nation everywhere. In every road game at one point or other it seemed like a “Let’s Go Lakers” chant was started.

I guess the weather is just generally fair in Lakerland.

By: Davis

Davis — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:30:55 +0000

Yes! Game’s in Fresno tonight! This is the biggest thing to come to my town since, well, last year’s game pre-season game in Fresno…

By: Darius

Darius — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:59:04 +0000

#44. Jeff,
What you’re saying makes sense. However, as Kurt said, end of the game situations will definitely disrupt tidy line-up groupings like the ones you mention. Also, my other concern is that we’re not going to be substituting 5 players at a time in order for these groups to play together on an almost exclusive basis (just look at last season where Phil tried to keep his substition patterns the same: Kobe comes out at 1 min left in the first quarter, Odoms comes out with 8 min left in the 2nd quarter, etc…which already starts to shuffle personel groupings). At the end of the day, players minutes are going to get squeezed or be non-existent. And when you squeeze a players minutes, especially players that are used to getting good minutes throughout their careers (like Radman or Walton), you may not get the best out of those players when their court time is limited or jerked around. This also holds up if players go several games playing sparingly or not at all and then are asked to come in to the game in specific situations and perform their best. Guys like Jud Bueschler or Randy Brown might be able to play under these circumstances, but can Radman? Can Luke? Can Mihm?

I’m not going to go into any trade scenarios (and frankly I think it’s irresponsible to talk about trades when we’re already in camp but haven’t seen any real lineup developments), but we have a lot of players that deserve minutes, but there are only so many minutes to go around. In some ways, I think it’s easier to have 8-9 really good players and then have 6-7 marginal/specialist type players in order to set your rotation and easily define every players role. And in the end, we may see a reshaping of this roster if roles can’t be defined in a manner that gets the best out of everyone. Don’t get me wrong, give me the most talented team with 12 guys who could all be starters and let me work out that *problem*. But, these guys are not machines that run the way we want at our beck and call. These guys are humans, have good days and bad, have egos, and all want to play a strong role on a team that wins. I don’t know how Phil’s going to do it quite yet, but he’s going to have to figure out not only how to have everyone playing the way he wants (as evidenced by his quotes to media about Odom and Bynum) but also how to manage their minutes while still maximizing that high level of play, while also trying to win every game. For these reasons alone, he’ll be earning his paycheck this season.

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:44:00 +0000

Jeff T,
How about Josh Powell? I would probably play him with either unit (1st to add power on the boards or 2nd in place of Walton). Now Walton becomes strictly a situational player or replaces Vlade if he doesn’t get it done.

The last 5min of close games probably sees Fish/Farmar, Kobe, Ariza, Gasol, Bynum because we need to just overpower the opposition (Farmar, Kobe, Ariza, Gasol can run and Fish, Kobe, Bynum can power).

Yes, Kurt, this would mean we really have 3 teams that learn to play together, but isn’t that the case most of the time anyway?

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:27:29 +0000

44. Still, at the end of a close game, doesn’t Gasol and Bynum have to be on the floor at the same time. Kobe Fish Gasol Bynum and Odom/Ariza/Radman (depending on the matchups) seems like the best five, and you need that for the last three minutes against the Hornets or someone. Don’t we?

By: Jeff T

Jeff T — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:23:16 +0000

Darius,
I believe I have a workable solution for your line-up situation. It really goes back to the approach Phil took last season, with essentially two complete teams that play most of their time together. I think one key is to keep LO at the 4 in the starting unit with Gasol, and have Bynum lead the second unit where he fits well with Farmar and Sasha. Here is my line-up:

Starting 5 (same as last year):
Fish
Kobe
V-Rad
Odom
Gasol

Second Unit:
Farmar
Sasha
Ariza
Walton
Bynum

I would put Radman into the first unit to add better shooting than Ariza. The first unit would try to build a small lead, while the second unit would really try to blow away their opponents. This worked well last year, before Gasol, but Kobe was needed to play on both teams. The key is that we have two solid teams that are used to playing with each other (ala Team USA) and not randomly shuffling players together.

By: inwit

inwit — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:30:11 +0000

Saw the Blazer game last night. True, the Warriors are not a big, physical team so it wasn’t a great test.

Oden looks strong under the hoop but most of his points (all I think) were dunks or free throws. He is aggressive on the boards and in shot blocking. He looks like he is not in great shape though.

As compared to Bynum, Oden tooks stronger and more explosive, but Bynum’s footwork and offensive moves are superior (thanks Kareem). Bynum also looks more comfortable in his teams offense, but he has much more experience in this.

It will be interesting to see how they both develope as Bynum is just starting to develope physically and Oden is rusty after his last two seasons of development being largely lost to injury.

By: chris h

chris h — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:21:20 +0000

Phil had some harsh words for Lo after that first game, and I have to say that I agree with him. it looked like LO was just going through the motions, like when he was out there in the 4th qtr, and Kobe and other starters were done, LO seemed like it was all about peer pressure, like he was with the square kids and not showing any leadership, or desire to out there. i was dissapointed in hie performance.
I was however, pleased with Bynum’s efforts. trevor should a lot of good stuff out there, and Josh powell really impressed me.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:18:13 +0000

By the way, plans for today’s new post have been delayed by computer issues. Something new will be up later, but my flash drive seems to have eaten my plans for the first part of the day.

By: Darius

Darius — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:09:55 +0000

This is the most talented team 1-15 that Phil has had as a coach. I know he’s won 9 titles, so it sounds crazy, but it’s true. The end of the bench guys on those Bulls teams and Lakers teams may have been more experienced, but as pure talents they are not better than the guys that we have now.

This will play into how Phil manages the rotations because I’m not sure if he’s ever had this type of problem. Phil loves to play 8-9 players consistently, and then pull players 10-12 out of nowhere as some sort of spark in any given game. He tried this during the Finals with Mihm (unsuccessfuly) and I’m sure he’ll want to manage this team the same way. The problem is, though, that if guys like Walton or Mihm or whoever else start to rack up DNP-CD’s how will they respond when Phil calls their number? It’s a good problem to have, but ultimately, based off Phil’s coaching style, it could still be a problem. Am I worried? Not neccesarily, but it deserves to be monitored closely. I love all our talent, and I think our depth will serve us well during the regular season (and be a contingency for any injuries) but I’m still concerned how we are going to find minutes for all the guys that deserve to play, especially our wing players. Kobe, Sasha, Ariza, Luke, Radman, Odom. Now throw in Fisher and Farmar for good measure. And though I think some of those guys can play the 4 in smaller lineups (especially Odom, as we’ve all seen) realize that Gasol and Bynum are 2 of our better players and we’re going to want them in the game. Now if we say that Odom will get the majority of those back-up PF minutes then where and when do these other guys play? Some one is going to either sit entirely or this is going to go off of feel in any given game. And I haven’t even mentioned Powell. My head hurts.