Bynum's Back!

So this is what the Los Angeles Lakers were missing.

Andrew Bynum returned from a four-game suspension to power the Lakers over the Denver Nuggets and he played big. Bynum scored a team-high 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, along with a pair of blocked shots.

Coach Mike Brown said that he wasn't going to ease Bynum in and was stayed true to his word. He allotted 32 minutes of playing time for the returning big man and this had effect on the Lakers prior rotation in their firs four games. This meant Josh McRoberts slid down to the bench and Troy Murphy barely played.

But Bynum's dominance offset the McRoberts/Murphy combo, especially in the low blocks. Whether it was dunking the ball over the Nuggets or altering shots, it's clear that the Lakers are indeed better with Bynum on the floor. To wit: Bynum had a +11 +/- stat with the Lakers winning by only 3 points.


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Lakers Drop to 0-2

Two games into the 2011-2012 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers are still winless.

The Lakers lost to the Sacramento Kings last night, 100-91 and it was a mixed-bag effort. The Lakers clawed back from a double digit lead in the second half and got within two points in the last five minutes, but the Kings stepped on the pedal and went on a 11-4 run to close the game.

Folks can cite that this was the second of a back-to-back-to-back (The Lakers play the Utah Jazz at home tonight), but this is no excuse. The Kings are projected to go back to the lottery and the Lakers should be able to handle them.

Three quick notes about the past two games:

1. Kobe Bryant showed doubters that he can still put the ball through the hoop, even with an injured wrist and rehabbed knee. In two games, Kobe has averaged 28.5 points on 45% shooting.
2. Even with the addition of Jason Kapono and Troy Murphy, the Lakers are shooting blanks from the three-point range. In the two losses, the team has made 5 threes out of 32 attempts (15%).
3. Coach Mike Brown plays young guys! Devin Ebanks and Andrew Goudelock are getting a lot of burn and the results have been pretty encouraging. 

Speaking of Goudelock, this guy needs a nickname and I think it should be "Glock" (from the pistol) because he's a shooter and it's fits his name. What do you think?


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Unhappy Odom Sent to Dallas

This sucks.

After the NBA shot down the deal that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets, and Lamar Odom to the New Orleans Hornets, it left a bitter taste to the players involved in it.

Nobody took it harder than Odom, who spent seven seasons with the Lakers and the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. He felt that he was unwanted by the team that he helped win two championships in the last two years.

This prompted him to request a trade out of the team and Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak obliged. Odom was sent to the Dallas Mavericks for a salary exception an draft picks.

As a fan, this is utter crap.

How do you replace a versatile big man who's always a threat to a double-double?

Some will argue that Odom will be less effective in Mike Brown's system than he was in the Triangle Offense. A double-double threat? A lot of people see an inconsistent power forward.

The way I see it, this deal is disadvantageous to the Lakers because 1) they give up a trade piece that could be packaged with other players to obtain an All-Star (like Dwight Howard), and 2) There's no immediate replacement for Odom's production. Yes the team saves salary, but the Lakers have never been about penny-pinching.

If this is the last deal the Lakers will make in the off-season, then we'll see more of Derrick Caracter off the bench. And that is NOT a good thing.


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NBA Season to Start on Christmas Day

Folks wanting to see Kobe Byrant wearing a Los Angeles Lakers jersey this year instead of the exhibition threads will finally get their wish-- the NBA lockout is all but finished.

After five months of seeing no NBA, this is huge for the fans. I personally want to see how this season will play out after the Lakers were edged by the Dallas Mavericks in the last playoffs. Will Kobe get his sixth NBA championship? Will Pau Gasol erase the bad memories he planted on fans in the 2011 playoffs? Will Andrew Bynum be an All-Star? Will Mike Brown be a good replacement for Phil Jackson?

And then there's Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest). Is there anything cooler than seeing "World Peace" in a basketball jersey?

Whatever the answer to those questions, they will all unfold on Christmas Day 2011.


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How to Fix the Lakers (Part 2)

After I figured that Brian Shaw would be the best option for the Lakers' coaching vacancy, the team went on to hire Mike Brown as the next coach.

Now onto the next way to fix the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2011-2012 season: The NBA Draft.

The team has the picks for #41, #46, #56, and #58 in a two-round draft of 30 picks per draft. This means that the Lakers have very low picks. Who should the Lakers draft in a relatively weak class?

If you ask me, go for serviceable bigs that can replace Derrick Caracter. This person should be able to put in the efforts to defend the opponent's big men and rebound on the offensive glass. I believe this was sorely missed with the aging Theo Ratliff and Joe Smith coming off the bench to spell the frontline starters.

Some names that come to mind in the draft:

• Kenneth Faried
• Jordan Williams
• Rick Jackson
• Willie Reed
• DeAngelo Castro
• Greg Smith
• Keith Benson

The common denominator among the names I listed is that they are all big men who are active on the defensive and rebounding ends.

If the Lakers pick majority of those scrappy bigs, I think they're on the right path to replace Derrick Caracter.


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Mike Brown: The Lakers' New Coach

Image via Wikipedia

So much for fixing the Los Angeles Lakers.

The team announced that the new coach will be Mike Brown, the former Cleveland Cavaliers coach who (mis)handled LeBron James in five seasons.

I thought Brian Shaw would have been a better hire, to ensure continuity from the Phil Jackson era. The Lakers' management seems to like to go to a completely new direction. Jim Buss (son of team owner Dr. Jerry Buss) made the decision to hire and I think he's crafting the team the way he sees it.

The initial negative fan reaction from the Mike Brown hire and the spite sent towards Jim Buss is understandable-- Mike Brown, with all due respect, is a far cry from Phil Jackson. Jim Buss, for his part, is doing his darned best not to look like Don Sterling 2.0.

What do I think of the hiring?

It's clearly all about the immediate future for the Lakers. Brown's contract coincides with the expiration of the contracts of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. (I think Andrew Bynum will get an extension and Lamar Odom will be dealt in the next few years.) Brown is meant to extract the best defensive effort from that bunch while the window for championships are still open.



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