Lakers need upgrade at the 3 to beat Celtics....

[Tesla]

You bring up some very vital points

The lingering problems: the PG spot and the SF (well not so much) spot

In addition, Odom is very expendable, but here lies the problem: To me Odom is our Safety Stock in case one of our starting bigs gets hurt.

We have 3SF's (Ariza, Vlad, and Luke) It would be difficult to have 4 for our depth situation

But the problem is we're 17-2, should we fix something that ain't broke? Is it broke?

Yeah, and thats why I think we will keep Odom, because he is an expiring 1 year insurance policy. I don't think its exactly the record we should be looking at, but how we are winning/playing. Our record is great, no problems there, but our play really isn't all that reflective of a championship team. This team is reminding me of 05-06 Dallas (with Kobe instead of Dirk). The only way I see us winning a title (without seriously changing our defense + identity or personal changes/both) is if Kobe can go off (like in the SAS series).

[Sedale Threatt]

Great post (s), Tesla.

I couldn't agree more about us seemingly lacking the necessary ingredients to win a title. That's why I think fans who are using our gaudy record as justification to downplay our flaws, which seem so glaring to some of us, are really missing the forest for the trees.

Not that we can't, or won't, win the title. This is obviously an outstanding team. But unless we fix some of the problems you're talking about, I just don't see it happening.

[TommyTheCat]

I don't know if the Lakers have the moxy of a championship team. In the beginning of the year, I would of said - yes, I think I see it.. but now, not so much. The Lakers really need to improve their defense, complacency, clock management, and basically just general effort+smarts. They are not playing the game hard enough or smart enough.

i agree. the c's bring it pretty much every play of every game and the lakers don't. hopefully that will change by playoffs

[Dexmor]

If they can pull off Prince for Odom then they should absolutely do it. He would fit perfect and they would give the Pistons a better option at the 4.

[ronnymac2]

Odom is such a big part of our team though. He's not just some safety net for injuries. He goes on the floor as the power foward with bynum or gasol at center. He's our second best rebounder. He's got some nice chemistry with both of them, and his presence allows other players on the team to do things (Ariza to roam the baseline, kobe to drive/post-up more...things that might become a bit more difficult with gasol and bynum on the floor together). He can play in a slow line-up or a fast lineup. He's our ultimate versatility guy. He allows us much flexibilty.

However...lol that prince trade does sound pretty nice. Prince does a pretty good job on most wings. We'd have Prince, Bryant, and Ariza to guard basically any type of perimeter player. Prince also hits outside shots and gives us another post-up option. Good passer and finisher on the break, too. Actually, damn....yeah, him playing with our second unit would be nice, because he can take some ball-handling pressure away from Farmar.

I just hate to get rid of Lamar though. I know this is a business and everything, but I'd like for the team to stay loyal to him. Plus, I honestly think he fits our team very well. Odom being trade for Prince takes away from our front-court power positions, as well as our rebounding. We aren't exactly the toughest, meanest team in the league. Is Prince going to help that?

[Anklebreaker702]

All we need to do is grasp the concept of great team defense & we will not only beat but destroy any team in this league. All the pieces are in place, the only thing that may happen is we might be able to move Luke & Mihm for another piece that fits because I think they've run their course on this team

[Sedale Threatt]

Agreed, but grasping the concept of great team defense is much easier said than done. It requires a hell of a lot more hard work and discipline than this group seems willing to put in at this point. No question we've looked awesome at times, but mostly in spurts. Maybe Phil was right about us having too many offensive-minded players.

And good luck trying to dump Walton -- at this point, with that awful contract, who would want him?

[Anklebreaker702]

^^ In a purley optomistic answer to that Sedale i'm hoping they will turn it on in the second half defensively & put in an effort to get it done. I know were going to have trouble trying to dump Luke's contract, but what else can we do?

[hermes]

i can get a basic grasp of nuclear fusion, but that doesn't mean they'll be giving me the launch codes

[Arroyo30]

if we make it to the finals again vs the celtics i assume ariza would be getting the majority of the minutes guarding pierce so we should be ok.