That being said, I don’t think it’s time to worry. They all had a bad game, and that’s the only way they should lose this year. Great games from the opposing team, (like those awesome shots Prince and Wallace) and our guys playing like crap. It won’t happen too much.

The two-man game on the weak side of the Triangle is actually the 2nd option of the triangle, when they are set like that (1st one being getting the ball to the guy who comes from the corner and curls for an open middle range jumper). What the Lakers are indeed lacking is having the guy at top of the key (hmmm, let’s call it Kobe) get the ball from the high post player and actually making a dribble backwards and waiting for the cuts from the other side. This offsets the entire defense as they tend to start doing more lateral movement…

So, although Vald’s length is important for defensive purposes , having Luke in the starting lineup and playing the top of the guy, could give us the ball rotation we need.

Still, I like winning the games with defense and having the 2nd unit really carve the difference… it’s more reliable. I want to see how we behave against Cleveland and Boston before hitting the “uh-oh, something’s not right” button.

Phil can, and does, stagger the substitution of the bench squad to accomplish most of Bill’s objectives already. For example, Trevor clearly owns the 3 position without being a starter. Lamar can substitute in at the 4, with Pau moving to the 5. Bynum can substitute in to the bench squad and get some special passes from Farmar.

I believe that many of the problems facing the starting five will disappear as the team finds ways to get Bynum the ball inside more consistently in the right place. As long as the defense can keep their focus, the Lakers will be OK. 7-1 was no fluke.

Let’s watch Andrew continue to develop his game inside.

His point is that those games weren’t good tests of what this team is capable of and aren’t good reference points for the strengths and weaknesses of this team.