RealGM

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 6:44 pm**

Kilroy wrote:^And we picked up Earl Clark too...

A lot of people, including myself, keep overlooking this pick up. He could potentially be a premier defender for us and is fairly athletic. Just wish he had a consistent jumper, his mechanics are near broken.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 6:45 pm**

AcecardZ wrote:Our bench should be better next year than it was last year. I wouldn't be surprised if Pau starts and takes a seat three or four minutes into the game only to return towards the end of the first quarter anchoring the second unit.

If we don't win a championship this year it won't be because of the bench. It will be because:

1) Age/health Let's face it our team is comprised of a bunch of very old players and a guy recovering from back surgery so it's not completely out of the question that we'll never be completely healthy at any point during this upcoming season. When was the last time Kobe was near 100%? It's been years.

2) Kobe needs to quit taking bad shots and start sharing the ball more. He's not physically dominant enough to single handedly take over games the way he used to. If he doesn't trust Nash, Pau and Dwight to help shoulder the load and play more efficient ball the Lakers won't make it past OKC. This might sound crazy but if Kobe refuses to get with the program and play team ball Mike Brown should play him tons of minutes with the second unit. I don't want to see this happen but Brown can't risk Kobe poisoning the chemistry between Nash, Dwight and Pau.

3) Mike Brown He's still an unproven commodity. If the Lakers remain mostly healthy this year and fail to get to the NBA finals Mike absolutely must shoulder some of the blame.

4) Bad luck? Putting together a great team is no guarantee of anything. Plenty of great teams have failed to reach their full potential.

I can also make a pretty nice list as to why I think the Lakers will win a championship but I'll save that for later.

This is a good post. +1

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:03 pm**

Not surprise, I'm pretty sure Mike Brown will fail us.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:32 pm**

AcecardZ wrote:
Matt6288 wrote:
and we have a great bench,

Woooo!!! Slow down my friend. I wouldn't go quite this far.

I do think we're loaded in the front court but if Kobe's efficiency continues to decline and Nash's age becomes an issue our backcourt will need help.

Beyond Kobe and Nash we have:
Meeks
Blake
Duhon
Goudelock
Morris

If Kobe and Nash struggle for any reason we can't really expect any of those guys to fill the void.

Ok maybe ''great'' was the wrong word, I just meant that its alot better than people seem to think.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:54 pm**

Right before Game 1 of the 2009 Finals, Horry was on the radio saying the Magic would win the series. He's gone on record saying that he didn't choose to sign with the Spurs but it was the Lakers that let him go... Seems like the guy is just hating.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 8:03 pm**

I disagree Big Shot, we'll be in the Finals

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:58 pm**

In the "fwliw" department I'd much rather have people like Horry around saying we won't win a championship than have all of them saying we will.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:33 pm**

So basically Blake/Meeks/Ebanks/Jamison/Hill is a horrible bench? dafuq Horry.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:23 pm**

I've always appreciated Big Shot Bob for what he did for us, but I know he's always wanted more credit for what a great player he was throughout his career.

This almost feels like he's trying to say, "Do you know how great I was? Don't you know championships are defined by the bench? Oh by the way, I was the best bench player on those championship teams. So give me some more love here."

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:20 am**

^^^ Pretty much.

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:28 am**

didn't he just say some other attention seeking stuff not too long ago?

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:58 am**

if we were able to play okc hard with the worst bench in the league, i wonder what we could do with a mid of the pack bench like we have now

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:03 am**

Benches are overrated when it comes playoff time

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:14 am**

Horry is one of those guys that are great when they are on your team, but then they can't play basketball anymore, then age, then comes the hatred towards the players who are still on the court....

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:15 am**

SportsandTacos wrote:if we were able to play okc hard with the worst bench in the league, i wonder what we could do with a mid of the pack bench like we have now

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:18 am**

LaLa wrote:So basically Blake/Meeks/Ebanks/Jamison/Hill is a horrible bench? dafuq Horry.

Last year: Blake/Goudelock/Barnes/McRoberts/Murphy

This year: Blake/Meeks/Ebanks/Jamison/Hill

We have definitely built a solid bench to compliment out incredible starters, we don't need a SUPER bench when we have Nash/Kobe/Metta/Pau/Howard.

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:21 am**

nbaintel1 wrote:He said HE THINKS - not the Lakers won't. OP, you should know better than that trying to stir up controversy.

It's the title of the effing article :roll:

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:32 am**

We supposedly had a weak bench in Rob's days here too. Not gonna get mad at what he said, it's easier to say they won't make it as oppose to flat out saying way too early that they'll win it all. Too much flak will come his way if he made such a prediction and it blew up in his face.

But again guys overrate bench play during the playoffs, in reality you only play 2-3 guys decent minutes. For example in 2002 our main guys were Fish and Rob playing a lot more than others.

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:21 am**

I aint even mad!!

Posted: **Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:39 am**

given the personnel I think the roster's set to go. I'm campaigning for Pietrus or Barbosa but I'm not complaining also. just because the bench doesn't have household names in some positions doesn't make it weak or useless. Lakers actually have a very solid 4/5 rotation with Gasol, Hill, Jamison, Howard. Kobe and Ebanks and MWP can even play 2/3, MWP and Clark 4/5, or MWP Jamison 3/4, GLock, Morris and Meeks 1/2. combinations are "endless".

the challenge here is how Mike Brown will manage the rotation. it's a lot harder to manage minutes having players that can effectively play at different positions.

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