Bynum/Pau cannot coexist on the floor.

[Kdot]

Phil had it right all along. He would always start both of our 7 footers but throughout the rest of the game they would always be playing in seperate line-ups. Most notably always going to Pau down the stretch. I think Brown playing both of them on the floor at the same time so much has killed Pau's confidence. He's become a jump shooter, but you can't blame that solely on him. The emergence of Bynum as a legitimate force down low has clogged up the lane a lot forcing Pau to play more outside. It's too late to make any adjustments now but I feel this has probably been the biggest problem this series. One of them needs to go this offseason or we need a competent coach that actually has a clue about rotations. Hopefully the latter.

[LAFan24]

I honestly just think Pau and Bynum need to step up and dominate the paint. This theory/logic would make sense if LA wasn't 3rd in the west. At the end of the day, there is no excuse for Kobe to be outplaying Bynum and Gasol with a stomach virus while taking IV before the game/during halftime.

If Bynum is dominating the paint then Pau needs to adapt and knock down the open jumpers which he wasn't doing tonight..and this might just be my opinion but it seems like Pau continues to act like he is playing D when he just stands there and gets owned by people half his size

[carpediem]

yea i dunno about this logic, even if they dun work offensively. There's no excuse for the lackluster bs defense.

[LaLa]

they were working the first 4 games of the series. now all of a sudden in 2 games, they can't. stop with these overreaction threads.

[Sofa King]

After 3 Finals and 2 rings, I think they should have figured it out by now.

[Mirjalovic]

Phil Jackson knew that since the beginning, thats why Odom was really important for our team.

[Kilroy]

Forget coexist... Neither of them can exist on the floor... Even when the other guy isn't on the floor, they aren't doing anything... In fact, nobodies doing anything but Kobe and sometimes Kobe does too much.

I honestly don't know what's wrong with this team anymore... But I think the Bynum/Pau duet is putting too fine a point on it.

[snaquille oatmeal]

Forget coexist... Neither of them can exist on the floor... Even when the other guy isn't on the floor, they aren't doing anything... In fact, nobodies doing anything but Kobe and sometimes Kobe does too much.

I honestly don't know what's wrong with this team anymore... But I think the Bynum/Pau duet is putting too fine a point on it.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1180043

[picc]

They can coexist, against select teams.

But this is why Lamar was so important and why he normally closed. Defensively and offensively he's not as talented as Drew, but he's much more disciplined and versatile. I honestly think this series would be won already if LO was still here. Spilled milk I know, just musing.

Drew and Pau can play together well most of the time, primarily against half-court plodding teams. But its no coincidence Jordan Hill, who's Odom-lite, has been closing games for the Lakers this year.

[TruSkool]

i agree, i never thought they clicked properly either, although its beautiful seeing gasol lob an alleyoop to bynum once in a while.
the odom trade is absolutely killing us.

[Sedale Threatt]

I actually thought they played together fairly well this season.

Gasol's not a great outside shooter, but he's just good enough where they can kinda/sorta complement each other. Plus, he seemed to be really finding Bynum on the interior.

The big problem right now is pretty simple -- they're just not playing very hard. Sounds trite, I know, but I'm just not seeing much effort out of either of these guys at the moment.

[Kilroy]

I actually thought they played together fairly well this season.

Gasol's not a great outside shooter, but he's just good enough where they can kinda/sorta complement each other. Plus, he seemed to be really finding Bynum on the interior.

The big problem right now is pretty simple -- they're just not playing very hard. Sounds trite, I know, but I'm just not seeing much effort out of either of these guys at the moment.

Yeah, I thought they were figuring it out pretty well too... But to me it looks like when the other team's defensive intensity goes up, both of them fold.

If they bounce back in LA, maybe it is just an effort thing... If not, maybe they just aren't that good.

[Tee212]

Where was this thread when they was kicking ass? lol

[semi-sentient]

Where was this thread when they was kicking ass? lol

When was this?

Their defense/effort has sucked all season long (for the most part), and last time I checked that was supposed to be their primary focus coming into the season.

[microfib4thewin]

I didn't catch most of last night's game, but it sounded more like a lack of effort than incompatibility. Bynum and Gasol are too similar as players for a team to get 100% out of them in any given game, but Pau still possess enough PF skills to not make the twin tower look like a joke. Getting blown out by the Nuggets doesn't seem like a talent problem, especially given how they played in game 1.

[BEazy]

Yesterday's game I saw only one time where Pau was posting up one on one and was successful. Like Steve Kerr was saying Pau/Bynum have been seeing double and triple teams this whole entire series. If we had capable shooters to spread the floor this would not be happening to these two guys. Lets alone, these types of threads would not even exist right now if we had freaking 3 point shooters!

[Tee212]

Where was this thread when they was kicking ass? lol

When was this?

Their defense/effort has sucked all season long (for the most part), and last time I checked that was supposed to be their primary focus coming into the season.

when kobe was out and they was questioning if we really needed him. when ab vs dwight as the best center would surface and how pau adjust his game out the block as a point pf dishing and flirting with triple doubles.

[RamonSessions7]

The "when kobe was out" was a span of 3 games and a huge overreactiond. AB vs Dwight as best center was also a overreaction by some group. And Pau's "adjusting" has always been sporatic and overshadowed by his tendency to disappear at other times.

[Tee212]

exactly my point, theres always a huge panic in here. when someone/team does good/struggles theres a thread for it..rather cute at times but gets annoying. We all want our lakers to do well right....just fans being fans at this point.

[milesfides]

No question Pau and Bynum's production would increase with Kobe gone. That's easily explainable by a bigger role on offense and for Bynum, this makes him play better on defense.

That doesn't make us a better team. It doesn't mean we'd be good in the playoffs.

Because Kobe is all about the playoffs and bringing it. Pau? Inconsistent. Bynum? Still hasn't proven a damn thing, he's either hurt or underachieving when we need him the most.

So it's pointless to bring Kobe into the equation. Kobe ain't going nowhere, and he sure as hell aint the problem.

As far as Bynum and Pau, of course they can coexist. They need better perimeter shooters to allow them to play their game. Bynum needs to be a quicker passer out of the double team, and he needs to make his moves quicker to the basket. Pau needs to demand the ball more and be aggressive, to work his high post game.

But most of all, Bynum needs to just play defense no matter what. He can be the game-changing defensive presence without a ton of FG attempts, just like Game 1.

Our perimeter players need to cover Faried better when Faried beats Pau down the floor (not really Pau's fault, just a bad match up on the other end).

There are tons of reasons why Bynum and Pau aren't ideal. Also tons of ways to make them work.

But if both aren't playing the hardest they can on both ends of the floor, then it's a moot point, because it's hard to evaluate ability when the effort isn't there.