19, Out of all of our 5-man lineups, only 11 have more than 55 minutes to their name. Of those 11, the best lineup in terms of win% is

6.) Fisher-Brown-Artest-Odom-Gasol 85.3 +46 83.3%

The second best is #4 above,

4.) Farmar-Brown-Bryant-Odom-Gasol 141.4 +35 70.8%

The worst is

5.) Farmar-Brown-Bryant-Odom-Bynum 126.7 -25 36.6%

Unless you’re of the belief that Andrew Bynum is a much, much worse player than Pau Gasol, it would seem that #5 would be a cause for concern with the high score of #4. Admittedly, 4 seems like statistically our best lineup. But such a drop-off between that lineup’s production and the lineup replacing Gasol with Bynum makes it seem like there is something going on beyond the fact that Farmar and Brown are simply more productive than Fisher and Artest.

Also, none of our top 20 lineups contain one of either Farmar or Brown then the 4 other starters, so your statement that Farmar and Brown playing with the starters is statistically our best unit is not evidenced. Even if we could find that data, they have less than 23 minutes on the floor together, so there is sample size issues.

My point was that Farmar and Brown aren’t playing poorly because they’re stuck playing with scrubs; they’re playing with the same guys that Fisher is playing with. The only difference is they’re playing with each other.

All my data comes from 82games.com Check it out for yourself.

http://www.82games.com/0910/0910LAL2.HTM

>while allowing Tyreke Evans to run ramped.

I think that the word wanted here is ‘rampant’, as in unrestrained or unchecked – Evans ran rampant around the unorganized Laker defense.

(this may be an example of an ‘eggcorn’, where the sound-alike word substitution almost makes sense.)

Farmar does a better job as the ballhandler, but he over dribbles way too much. Both of these guys have different agenda as they are fighting for the next contract. An average starting PG in the league makes anywhere from 5-8 million a year. A back up makes about 2-4. Both Farmar and Brown are looking for that lucrative second contract of their career. This is the time when they need to make big bucks. They know that the only way to do it is to show that they have the ability to start. Unlike Ariza who excelled by playing his role very well, these guys are really hurting their chances of getting that fat contract by playing out of their roles.

I wish Farmar would realize that he can get a “good” contract from the Lakers (in the 3-4 million range) if he just plays within the system. There’s no way anyone’s going to pay him 5 million or more in this economy. I guess we’ll just have to bring in a veteran guy who’ll be happy to earn 3 million and be a part of a championship team next year.

http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/03/17/fast-break-thoughts-61/

I get that AB has faults, but he’s 22 and the play level is already more than solid, with tons of upside.

If he played on another team, he’d already be a 22-10 guy easily. The Lakers don’t need him to do that now, but someday they wll. Maybe sooner than any of us would prefer — Kobe won’t be here forever.

Seriously. All the talk about trading Bynum was unbelievable. When he’s going… oh man. If he keeps this up in the playoffs and helps us repeat, we shouldn’t hear anything like that again. Who would trade the possible future of the franchise?

As for the winning streak, the one question no one has been able to answer all season is what the players will do when the games really, really start to matter.

These guys have played as far into the playoffs as is possible the past two seasons. They know what matters and what’s less important, and no one but the Lakers themselves has any insight into their mental and physical approach to a very long season.

As fans we’d love to see them give 100 percent event night. But they’re men, and men get tired or find it hard to be motivated against a crap team in November or January. It’s human nature.

Now’s the time when they can no longer afford to have that relaxed outlook. If they continue to build on this streak – not always wins, but playing well — it’s a good sign that things are coming together at the right time. They know what has to be done; let’s see them go out and do it.

Oh, and where did all of the “Trade Bynum” crowd go?

“Instead, we should be asking ‘why do Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown play so poorly together?’ ”

Because there’s only one basketball.