Bynum was 10x better this year then last year...
Kobe has a new resolve, he is a man on a mission...
Derek Fisher is now their starting PG...
Other guys are stepping up like Vujacic, Walton, and Turiaf...
Gasol is added, and Kwame is subtracted...
This is the team this year I think...and the funny thing is, Bynum getting hurt might have been the best thing to happen to the Lakers this season. He's going to be ok, and if he hadn't gotten hurt, Kupchak doesn't make the move for Gasol...now come the playoffs, the Lakers are absolutely monster...
Seriously..We really caught a break with the Gasol trade...Minus Bynum's injury though. Everything happens for a reason, and I believe Gasol was sent to us to win a championship for many years to come
Thank you Memphis! Thank you LA! And a big thank you to GOD!
Right now....I got to say the Lakers look damn good with Gasol in the mix.
And why compare Gasol to Bynum??? We have them on the same team!!!
Bynum's upside is his defense over Gasol and Gasol's is his offense right now.
I personally can't wait to see what Phil uses both Gasol and Bynum when Bynum comes back. Imagine the different rotations we will have.....we can put both in at the same time...have either or play center...mix in Kobe, Lamar, and Fish teams will have to pick their poison!!!! And the BEST THING about all of this....our guys are YOUNG!!!!! We could be competing for championships for the next decade!!!!
People seem to be too wrapped up in the issue over the direct comparison between Bynum and Gasol.
What people should be looking at is that once Bynum comes back, he will be starting instead of Radmanovic or Walton. Seriously, dudes, that's a nice upgrade. It's not Garnett coming back to start in the place of Scalabrine, or Duncan over Bonner, but still.
Bynum should not start and mess up what they have now. Gasol is an excellent center with a proven track record. Andrew will have to come off the bench. The paint is only so big an area, as you can see when Shaq clogs it up for the Suns. God was that a stupid trade.
The goal will be to have this starting frontcourt:
LO at 3, Pau at 4, Bynum at 5.
Once Bynum is back, I predict that they will gradually work him into the rotation. Most of it will be done during practices. Remember, it also involves moving LO to the 3, which is a big move, imo. Phil will work it during practices. LO better work on his outside shot.
The goal will be to have this starting frontcourt:
LO at 3, Pau at 4, Bynum at 5.
Once Bynum is back, I predict that they will gradually work him into the rotation. Most of it will be done during practices. Remember, it also involves moving LO to the 3, which is a big move, imo. Phil will work it during practices. LO better work on his outside shot.
Or, he might have even bigger lanes to the hole....
Yep, just for reasons others have pointed out. Call me crazy, but I think this current team is strong enough to win it all, even without Bynum. All of the dominant big men in the west play PF, not C. Gasol and Mbenga held their own against Dwight Howard in Orlando. Thats a tougher task then any they will face in the west for a C.
You already have 3 stars capable of 20+ a night with Kobe, Gasol and Odom, plus any Fisher and Vlad/Walton decide to drop in and one of the top scoring benches in the league. Dont need much else. Only thing they need to do is rebound a bit better and step up the defense a notch and its a championship caliber team. Bynum coming back will just make it more versatile and better.
I like how people thought Smush was good until he left the lakers.
Then he became garbage all of a sudden.
I hated Smush's inconsistency. He drove me crazy because you never knew what to expect from game to game. Fisher is the consummate veteran who knows the triangle and you know what you will get out of him every game. I am so glad Utah let him loose so we could get him back.
It is obvious that Gasol is not a true center despite his size. He gets beat up and pushed out of there by the bigger centers all the time. I love his game, but he is obviously better at the power forward position than at center when it comes to defense. He certainly holds his own on the offensive side but I want to see him facing the basket more with spot up jump shots instead of back to the basket to see how his jump shot is. I do love his play around the rim though. He is an assassin when he gets close to the basket.
I can't wait to see Bynum and Gasol play together. There is really no way to answer the question if the team is better with Gasol than it would have been if Bynum never got hurt. Personally I think Gasol has turned Odom into a better player like a lot of people have said and he also put Puke Walton on the bench instead of as a starter. That lineup with Walton, Kwame, Odom on the front line was PATHETIC.
The Lakers are easily the most talented team in the league when you factor in overall talent as well as balance of talent.
They have perimeter talent in Kobe (duh; a top 3 player), and 3 PG/combo guards capable of giving you 14-18 points on any given night on ridiculous shooting (Fisher/Farmar/Vujacic average like 43% from deep), and they're all good defenders. They have a 6'10" SF/PF hybrid who can handle the ball and creates numerous matchup problems, and who can put up a 18/10/6 on any given night. They also have a hustling defensive athlete in Ariza.
Interior-wise, they have a 7' tall former all-star 20 pt/10 reb/2 blk/53% FG player in Gasol (who led two 49-50 win teams, mind you). Then they have Bynum, who was the most productive player in the league among players under 35 mpg (and he only averaged 29 mpg). Guy was a 13+/10+/2+ blk/63% FG player in 29 minutes per game and is 20 years old or whatever. Next season he'll be at 18/11/2.5 blk/55% FG minimum if he gets 35 mpg. At his peak (2-3 seasons from now) he'll be a 22/12/3 blk/54% player at a minimum. Then they have an energy guy in Turiaf off the bench who can do a bit of everything offensively and defensively.
Then there's the fact that their bench is one of the 3 deepest and most productive benches in the league.
You can't find a team with that sort of balance of talent both inside/outside as well as offensive AND defensive talent. Phoenix is similarly talented in terms of talent LEVEL, but their talent distribution isn't as good. They only have a good defender at one position (SG). SA has talent, but it's not as well distributed, and they're not as deep...or as young. Boston has talent, but KG isn't really an interior player like Gasol/Bynum are. They're also not as deep as LA.
At a minimum, the Lakers are one of the two most stacked teams in the league when all aspects of talent and balance are considered. I don't see how it can be denied.
Re: Switching Bynum with Gasol...
