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Originally Posted by SourGrapes
i think we'll be a better team this year with bynum back than we would with marion and no bynum.
our problem in the finals wasn't just a lacking of a perimeter stopper. we kept getting pushed out of post spots by perkins and garnett.
and pau can certainly play outside the paint. i think congestion is not going to be a problem for this team...with pau at the high post and bynum in the low post that opens up room for slashers plenty.
pau and bynum aren't the same players at all, outside of both having a nice touch near the hoop.
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I completely agree with this, and with what SoCal said earlier.
I'm also a little suprised by the lack of support for Bynum.
If you look at Bynum's numbers from about mid-Nov until the injury, I think you'll see that he averaged about 17-11 during that span.
He also shot close to 70%, passed the ball well and blocked almost 2 shots per game. All at 20 years of age.
Compare AB's stats at 20 to those of Dwight Howard at the same age, his second NBA season. (Remember, DW was a year older out of high school than Drew). I believe Drew's numbers are right there, and may actually surpass Dwight's when you look at turnovers, blocked shots and assists.
And Drew got no where near the touches that DW got. (This can be a plus and a minus).
I'm not saying Drew is superior or even equal to DW, yet, but I do believe he is on his way to stardom. We need to hope that he can remain healthy and continue to develope and learn.
Defensively, the Lakers were a much better team in winter (with AB at the center), than we were with Pau there.
That's not a knock on Pau, it's not his game. With AB back, Pau will play the 4 which I believe better suits his game, at least for what this team needs.
I don't believe a team with Pau as the main 5 would ever win a title, for the reasons which Lakerfreak explains above.
But a team with AB at the 5 will win the title.
I think had we had Bynum during the finals, we would have won, so forget about Marion. I think Bynum and Pau can play together well, but what's going to be really dangerous is the versitility they give us.
The Paul, LO, Vlad line got us to the finals.
The Bynum, LO, Ariza line looked great until the injury's, and I think this more defensive oriented line would have made us more dangerous in the finals.
These are now our 2nd unit front lines.
That's amazing.
I like Marion, and I'd love to have him on this team.
He would give us everything that we lacked in the finals at the 3.
But, it will take LO tho get him, and I think that at least for now, the Lakers want to see what this big front line looks like together, plus the versitility LO brings. Plus, we may very well have a younger and less expensive Marion with Ariza, so we want to see how he developes.
I do think that if the Lakers struggle with this unit, we may revisit an LO for Marion deal, later in the season.
But guys, Bynum is a beast, who is only going to become more and more dominant. To me, he's easily the 2nd most valuable asset on our team, well ahead of Gasol.
Re: A what if question (not a trade idea at all!)
(still repped) lol
