MSG here I come...lakers @ knicks. 5:00pm.

[butter17]

@ anklebreaker
+1

[dockingsched]

ha, pau stopped just to sign the spain jersey.

i think drew was just a victim of matchups today. pau is never going to get benched, so its odom vs. drew, and when u are playing lee/jeffries/chandler type of big men, bynum has no role.

[dockingsched]

I'm not talking just about lee...knicks plays uptempo ball IMO pau and odom defensively would be a better match-up against that kind of offense

True, but they also had absolutely no answer for Drew. Milk that cow.

come 4th quarter, only two cows are getting milked, and it aint the young guy

[chefy]

but yeah phil should have at least gave bynum some mins in the 4th. give the kid some credits

[Sedale Threatt]

But what did Pau do so special? He had 3 horrible quarters then showed some life in the 4th but got his a** torched by Lee all night. Bynum was dominating. Why do you ever take a guy out who's dominating, I don't care what his name is. He should at least get some 4th quarter time.

All I know is that we go with Pau and Lamar for the whole fourth quarter, we finally play some defense, and as a result we win going away.

Bynum was definitely dominating -- on the offensive end, against a guy he's got a four-inch advantage on. I'm not knocking that; he got shots, he scored. Nineteen points in 24 minutes is outstanding.

It's the same story, though, on defense -- slow footed, poor reaction, just very little impact. Was Pau any better? No, not through three quarters at least.

But he's a veteran that Phil trusts, and he proved in the fourth quarter why he deserves that trust. That's why he's always going to get the nod, even if he isn't playing well and Andrew is.

Can you debate that? Yeah, I guess.

But, again, look at the bottom line results -- we've got Pau and Lamar in, and we win going away with a dominating fourth quarter. So it was obviously a good choice by Phil, as was the decision to go with Shannon and Farmar for key minutes.

[Sedale Threatt]

Another thing...

Look back through the thread. Nobody's mentioning a thing about Andrew in terms of defense. It's all about offense. Which is understandable considering how well he shot.

But offense was the LEAST of our worries tonight. We were over 50% throughout. We scored 115 points with two 30-point quarters. We made 12 3-pointers. Other than Kobe's over aggression, our offense was fine.

We won this game because we played really solid defense for a good seven or eight minutes there in the fourth quarter.

[slifersd]

I think one of the major issues Bynum and Gasol have playing together is that Gasol is playing much closer to the basketball this year. Last season, Gasol hung around the high post to feed the ball to Bynum a lot before Bynum was injured. That worked out pretty well. This year, however, Gasol is not passing the ball nearly as much and is looking to score with his back to the basket a lot more often.

[chefy]

it was not just bynum though ^

everyone was out ran/hustled and was slow on rotations

but yeah two centers that only looks to score would not work

[Sedale Threatt]

Of course it isn't just his fault. The whole team played like crap for the most part.

It's just, we should be talking about what a phenomenal fourth quarter Pau had -- 10 points, five boards, two assists, three blocks and a drawn charge -- and it's complaining about why Andrew didn't get minutes.

I guess I don't get that.

[microfib4thewin]

Gasol was definitely the POG tonight. Bynum played well offensively but he couldn't pick up on the D, and the speed of Knick's small ball bothered him more than Gasol who manage to play a great 4th, both on posting up and getting stops. It's nice to see Gasol coming back to life. Bynum will get another chance to prove his worth.

[chefy]

actually I think pau had a good game. he was not getting a lot of touches before the 4th but he was still pretty decent on offense the first 3 quarters.

it's just that sometimes you gotta give the kid some credit for doing a good job...especially tonight for keeping us in the game. it doesn't matter even if it there is only 2-3 mins left and were up 10 points.
And phil can't sit bynum all the time when it's crunch time...how would the kid learn if you keep benching him late in the fourth?

plus bynum was playing good the first 3 quarters, the knicks cant guard him...if there is a perfect time to gamble to see how would bynum response in crucial time. I think it was tonight's game (late in the 4th when we we're up and the momentum was with us)

still a win win though...so yeah I'm ok with it. defensively pau and lamar matchup better with the knicks.

[Anklebreaker702]

Another thing...

Look back through the thread. Nobody's mentioning a thing about Andrew in terms of defense. It's all about offense. Which is understandable considering how well he shot.

But offense was the LEAST of our worries tonight. We were over 50% throughout. We scored 115 points with two 30-point quarters. We made 12 3-pointers. Other than Kobe's over aggression, our offense was fine.

We won this game because we played really solid defense for a good seven or eight minutes there in the fourth quarter.

I thought he was fine on defense tonight especially in the 2nd quarter. Actually the offense & the defense went to pot when he went to the bench those 1st 3 quarters. He had 2 boards in the 1st Quarter & 4 between the early 3rd with some blocks as well. Point is you're right about match ups but when a guy is playing that well, he should get some 4th quarter burn.

[Anklebreaker702]

actually I think pau had a good game. he was not getting a lot of touches before the 4th but he was still pretty decent on offense the first 3 quarters.

it's just that sometimes you gotta give the kid some credit for doing a good job...especially tonight for keeping us in the game. it doesn't matter even if it there is only 2-3 mins left and were up 10 points.
And phil can't sit bynum all the time when it's crunch time...how would the kid learn if you keep benching him late in the fourth?

plus bynum was playing good the first 3 quarters, the knicks cant guard him...if there is a perfect time to gamble to see how would bynum response in crucial time. I think it was tonight's game (late in the 4th when we we're up and the momentum was with us)

still a win win though...so yeah I'm ok with it. defensively pau and lamar matchup better with the knicks.

+1

[Anklebreaker702]

Gasol was definitely the POG tonight. Bynum played well offensively but he couldn't pick up on the D, and the speed of Knick's small ball bothered him more than Gasol who manage to play a great 4th, both on posting up and getting stops. It's nice to see Gasol coming back to life. Bynum will get another chance to prove his worth.

Pau played a good 4th. Accept it for what its worth.

[Anklebreaker702]

I'm not talking just about lee...knicks plays uptempo ball IMO pau and odom defensively would be a better match-up against that kind of offense

True, but they also had absolutely no answer for Drew. Milk that cow.

come 4th quarter, only two cows are getting milked, and it aint the young guy

Yep. World B. Bryant & lord Gapanticus!

[Sedale Threatt]

I think one of the major issues Bynum and Gasol have playing together is that Gasol is playing much closer to the basketball this year. Last season, Gasol hung around the high post to feed the ball to Bynum a lot before Bynum was injured. That worked out pretty well. This year, however, Gasol is not passing the ball nearly as much and is looking to score with his back to the basket a lot more often.

Gasol's assist rate is almost identical to last year, 14.5 to 14.8.

Otherwise, I generally agree. The biggest problem they have is that the two don't really complement each other all that well, and they have the same problems on defense in terms of slow feet and reactions.

Pau is a decent outside shooter, but not so good that he can consistently play in the high post without wasting mismatches down low. Conversely, Andrew is a classic back-to-the-basket center, with no passing skills, so putting him up high would be a total waste.

You either feed the ball to one or the other. There is almost no interplay or meshing as they duplicate each other so closely. And with Kobe around, not making any adjustment whatsoever, neither one is going to get the involvement they deserve.

Defensively there are going to be some matchups where they do just fine, and are able to clog up the lane with their length. But get either one of them involved in the pick and roll, or against a quicker player with a jump shot, it's a disaster waiting to happen.

Just wait for tomorrow's game -- unless Bosh or Bargnani gets in foul trouble, Odom is going to get major minutes and one is going to sit. (Wanna guess which one?)

Having two go-two post players is a huge advantage considering at least half the teams in the league don't even have one. But it also creates an embarrassment of riches that is often going to leave one wasted on the bench in key situations, as we saw last night.