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Can't guard Dejuan Blair though, tbh fwiw tbqh
The Lakers have been playing like for the last month or so. Pau getting tired, Kobe starting to show his age (and playing with a hurt shooting mitt), Killer B's not playing nearly at the level they were playing at the beginning of the season, Lakers lost 4 in a row, now 3 in a row.
Then they played the Hornets in their gym on the 2nd night of a back to back. PJ shakes up the starting lineup by starting Big Drew and sends LO to the bench. Almost immediately the defensive intensity improved and the balance has returned. I know these Hornets are not the same 8-0 Hornets that started the season but they are still a good home team. What I saw last night was intimidation, a deer in the head lights look if you will, when they saw PJ roll out the twin tower lineup of Big Drew and Pau for the 1st time all year.
Okafor once treated the Heat's frontline like bas s with a 11/13 - 26 point outing in a Hornets' win earlier in the year. That wasn't happening last night. Big Drew made Okafor look small because he was playing big. Pau made David West look average. Then Lamar Odom came in and wrecked shop (he was the best player on the court IMO). Suddenly the Lakers' frontline looked elite again.
Bynum's return has brought balance back to the Lakers. Pau doesn't have to battle centers no more. Kobe doesn't have to feel like he has to force anything (very efficient last night BTW). And Bynum, is starting to look good again: LINK . These 1st 10 games or so are like Bynum's preseason. He looked ok against the Spurs going 4/4 in limited minutes. Last night PJ took the handcuffs off. He swatted, changed would be layups into nervous tear drop attempts, and caught a lob for a dunk (something I haven't seen in a while). It will take a while for him to get his timing down and get his stamina back up. He played 30 minutes last night on the 2nd night of a back to back. There have been no reports of Bynum having any knee pains either. I'm cautiously optimistic about his physician finally getting the surgery right this time. If my gut instinct is true the Lakers may actually be on their way back to being elite. The jury is still out though.
I'll be curious to see how the Lakers fare against the elite now that our starting lineup is back intact. The next elite opponent will be the Mavs on Jan 19, 2011. Taking a sneak peek at their schedule, they should be riding a 12 game winning streak. The next 11 games are all very winnable. It's time to build some momentum, get our swag back, then go into AA arena and smack the Mavs around. We'll see, but I'm confident.
Can't guard Dejuan Blair though, tbh fwiw tbqh
Lakers have another easy stretch of games coming up. Wake me up when they beat a great team on the road.
Blair is in shape and not coming off of knee surgery. Drew will not be guarding him - that's LO and Pau's job. I expect Drew to guard TD. And fwiw, I HIGHLY doubt that this continues to be the case and I also doubt it that if PJ roles out the twin tower lineup that Pop counters Bynum with Blair. Despite not being in game shape he was still 4/4. So I guess Blair can't guard him either.
They go to Big D Jan 11, 2011. What time do you want your alarm set?
till he gets hurt again.
That's if Kobe doesn't 'accidentally' fall on his knee again... Huge IF actuallyBlair is in shape and not coming off of knee surgery. Drew will not be guarding him - that's LO and Pau's job. I expect Drew to guard TD. And fwiw, I HIGHLY doubt that this continues to be the case and I also doubt it that if PJ roles out the twin tower lineup that Pop counters Bynum with Blair. Despite not being in game shape he was still 4/4. So I guess Blair can't guard him either.
Remember your karma. If TD goes down, so does your contending status - TP/Manu backcourt dominance be damned.
Why you want to bring that game up? Damn.
The beginning of the end really.Why you want to bring that game up? Damn.
But Bynum has never been our 'killer' really. It always been a combo of Phil/Kobe/Gasol and sometimes Odom getting untracked. Plus scrubs like Sasha and Farmar shooting lights out.
I like our bench a lot better this season. So we'll see what happens.
he still looks like Tracy Morgan, tbh.
That's one of those games that could definitely give the Lakers some confidence should they pull it off. I'm sure Dirk will be back by then, should be a great matchup.
Will be interesting to see how well Chandler can defend Bynum/Gasol.
I think the bolded changes this year. I'm not calling him prime Shaq but I don't see anybody in the league stopping him when he gets it going. I think he will be a load for TD to handle at this stage. Bonner, Blair, and Splitter are all too small to handle this kid.
Bynum's return is a big plus obviously, but its a disturbing trend that a athletically declining Kobe has to try to prove he still can takover a game, like his bonehead attempt vs. the Spurs the other night, and completely forget to get Gasol and Bynum involved in the offense. Seems like Zen master has a difficult time telling Kobe to pull his head out of his ass and remember what the Lakers strength is, instead of trying to go 1 on 5.
So now they're what, 3 and 8 against +.500 teams?The Lakers have been playing like for the last month or so. Pau getting tired, Kobe starting to show his age (and playing with a hurt shooting mitt), Killer B's not playing nearly at the level they were playing at the beginning of the season, Lakers lost 4 in a row, now 3 in a row.
Then they played the Hornets in their gym on the 2nd night of a back to back. PJ shakes up the starting lineup by starting Big Drew and sends LO to the bench. Almost immediately the defensive intensity improved and the balance has returned. I know these Hornets are not the same 8-0 Hornets that started the season but they are still a good home team. What I saw last night was intimidation, a deer in the head lights look if you will, when they saw PJ roll out the twin tower lineup of Big Drew and Pau for the 1st time all year.
Okafor once treated the Heat's frontline like bas s with a 11/13 - 26 point outing in a Hornets' win earlier in the year. That wasn't happening last night. Big Drew made Okafor look small because he was playing big. Pau made David West look average. Then Lamar Odom came in and wrecked shop (he was the best player on the court IMO). Suddenly the Lakers' frontline looked elite again.
Bynum's return has brought balance back to the Lakers. Pau doesn't have to battle centers no more. Kobe doesn't have to feel like he has to force anything (very efficient last night BTW). And Bynum, is starting to look good again: LINK . These 1st 10 games or so are like Bynum's preseason. He looked ok against the Spurs going 4/4 in limited minutes. Last night PJ took the handcuffs off. He swatted, changed would be layups into nervous tear drop attempts, and caught a lob for a dunk (something I haven't seen in a while). It will take a while for him to get his timing down and get his stamina back up. He played 30 minutes last night on the 2nd night of a back to back. There have been no reports of Bynum having any knee pains either. I'm cautiously optimistic about his physician finally getting the surgery right this time. If my gut instinct is true the Lakers may actually be on their way back to being elite. The jury is still out though.
I'll be curious to see how the Lakers fare against the elite now that our starting lineup is back intact. The next elite opponent will be the Mavs on Jan 19, 2011. Taking a sneak peek at their schedule, they should be riding a 12 game winning streak. The next 11 games are all very winnable. It's time to build some momentum, get our swag back, then go into AA arena and smack the Mavs around. We'll see, but I'm confident.
Tracy Morgan has better knees.
I think Haywood will be key for them. Chandler is a good defender but he is too light in the ass for Bynum. Chandler will match up well (defensively) with Gasol though. Should be a good game. Hopefully Dirk is back by then.
Someone might need to mention this Kobe.
The Lakers have been playing like for the last month or so. Pau getting tired, Kobe starting to show his age (and playing with a hurt shooting mitt), Killer B's not playing nearly at the level they were playing at the beginning of the season, Lakers lost 4 in a row, now 3 in a row.
Then they played the Hornets in their gym on the 2nd night of a back to back. PJ shakes up the starting lineup by starting Big Drew and sends LO to the bench. Almost immediately the defensive intensity improved and the balance has returned. I know these Hornets are not the same 8-0 Hornets that started the season but they are still a good home team. What I saw last night was intimidation, a deer in the head lights look if you will, when they saw PJ roll out the twin tower lineup of Big Drew and Pau for the 1st time all year.
Okafor once treated the Heat's frontline like bas s with a 11/13 - 26 point outing in a Hornets' win earlier in the year. That wasn't happening last night. Big Drew made Okafor look small because he was playing big. Pau made David West look average. Then Lamar Odom came in and wrecked shop (he was the best player on the court IMO). Suddenly the Lakers' frontline looked elite again.
Bynum's return has brought balance back to the Lakers. Pau doesn't have to battle centers no more. Kobe doesn't have to feel like he has to force anything (very efficient last night BTW). And Bynum, is starting to look good again: LINK . These 1st 10 games or so are like Bynum's preseason. He looked ok against the Spurs going 4/4 in limited minutes. Last night PJ took the handcuffs off. He swatted, changed would be layups into nervous tear drop attempts, and caught a lob for a dunk (something I haven't seen in a while). It will take a while for him to get his timing down and get his stamina back up. He played 30 minutes last night on the 2nd night of a back to back. There have been no reports of Bynum having any knee pains either. I'm cautiously optimistic about his physician finally getting the surgery right this time. If my gut instinct is true the Lakers may actually be on their way back to being elite. The jury is still out though.
I'll be curious to see how the Lakers fare against the elite now that our starting lineup is back intact. The next elite opponent will be the Mavs on Jan 19, 2011. Taking a sneak peek at their schedule, they should be riding a 12 game winning streak. The next 11 games are all very winnable. It's time to build some momentum, get our swag back, then go into AA arena and smack the Mavs around. We'll see, but I'm confident.
1-0 with Bynum starting against +0.500 teams.
Bynum is a blackhole himself. You'll hardly see him passing out of the post once he got the ball.
This will make a great bump later, tbh
I have to agree with this. Kobe has developed some bad habits throughout the years although he's been successful. During the Shaq/Kobe era, Shaq was never dependable in a close game in the 4th qtr because he couldn't shoot free throws. So Kobe had to close games for us be it scoring or facilitating. During the Kwame/Cook era, he still had to do it all just for a chance at a W. Now we have a stacked team and he still thinks he has to do it all some times. It's tailed off for the most part since we got Gasol but I still see Kobe trying to get his when he is playing an elite team that has an elite guard. Just like against the Spurs the other night. He apologized to the team and was much more efficient last night at the Bee Hive. Hopefully that trend continues - because he has championship help - and doesn't need to do it all by himself no more.
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