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was reading an article about changes that the lakers might make to return to the finals, and i found myself agreeing with moving lamar to the bench in a manu like move.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/5286 ... in-2008-09

Vladimir Radmanovic/Luke Walton/Trevor Ariza start at SF. Lamar Odom comes off the bench a la Manu Ginobili—playing starter minutes at PF and SF—and relishing his new role as leader of the Bench Mob while finishing with the first unit. Additionally, he embraces his NBA Sixth Man of the Year candidacy.

lamar simply isn't going to spread the floor, something that is going to be huge with gasol and bynum on the court at the same time. a healthy luke and ariza fit much better with the starters. luke is better at spreading the floor and moving the ball around, ariza is better at playing the passing lane and keeping up with sf's. off the bench, lamar is able to drive and kick to farmar/sasha/vlad, something which he was very good at last yr. he was routinely the only starter on the floor with the bench mob. he's able to play pf next to pau/bynum and grab the rebound and run. most importantly, he's able to take advantage of weaker backup bigs rather than be taken advantage of by talented sf's.

the cons is that lamar is in a contract yr and will want to shine, but playing him to his strengths while still giving him starter minutes should satisfy him.

I read a article simaliar to the one you read about LO being a 6th man and I thought it was a great idea. I said it a while ago, Having LO,Kobe,Gasol and Bynum in the starting lineup is to much fire power there...if there's a such thing. We have to have something coming off the bench because if they all start to many good players will be sacraficing there games to make it work. We potentially have 4 max contract players in the starting lineup.....thats insane...in a good way. But if we let LO run the second unit that would be sweet. Especially because he plays better when Kobe is not on the floor. Im all for LO being a 6th man to better the Lakers. Its time to set egos aside and do whats best for the team. Lo can still get starter minutes and play the 4th quarter even though he's not starting. I think what POP has done with Ginobli is genius. It gives the his bench a big boost. Imagine a second unit of LO,Machine,Ariza,Luke and either Gasol or Bynum staying in to play center. Thats pretty sick. Thats a starting five on some teams. And LO can still dominate the boards and do what he does best. I would still Start Vlade from the standpoint that we have to play him because he makes good dollars and its best to put him in the starting lineup because his mistakes would be covered up by the great play of Bynum,Gasol and Kobe. I personally like the idea. I think its best for LO and the way he plays the game.

My hope is that the Lakers arrive at this plan as soon as training camp.

where's the love for the Machine?

or luke?

luke would be a starter

If Lamar would come off the bench, I'm for moving kobe to SF and starting Sasha than starting Vlad, Luke or Ariza.

out of the other possible starting SFs, Ariza would be the best but does not have a consistant jumper (that we know of, please he's been working on one in the off season) Vlad doesn't play defense and Luke is just too un-athletic.

Odom off the bench @ the PF and luke @ SF w/ farmar is a good start @ 2nd unit.

I want the best 5 to start the game, and I would put LO in that group. I do not see him coming off the bench. Luke as a starter. Does not seem as the best idea.

Odom coming off the bench is an interesting idea. He does play VERY WELL with the second unit, he'd give us a big boost off the bench, and the passing of luke, odom, and farmar off the bench with say....pau, would be great. We probably wouldn't lose a beat on offense with that unit.

Thing is, we're putting odom on the bench not only to give the bench some more firepower, but to spread the floor for the starters better. I kind of like sasha starting at sg with kobe at the sf. fisher, sasha, and kobe give us good shooting to surround the low post big guys.

Of course, I want to see the bynum, gasol, odom frontcourt and what they can do together first. That's some crazy length, height, size, and rebounding that we have. If gasol and bynum run the floor like I think they are capable of doing, the fast break could be amazing. This is a bit far fetched, but say odom grabs the board and starts going downcourt. With gasol ahead and bynum and kobe on the wing (lets say bynum went out to defend the pick and roll, and gasol was defending a jump shooting pf lol). Whos going to stop the fast break? a 6'10 guy leading the break with 2 7-footers as the guys he can pass to..and kobe lol.

man look at how deep we are going to be I can't wait

If LO doesn't start.. it's 100% because of the spacing problems caused for our bigs due to his lack of an outside shot.. Thus, Vlade will be the starter.

I've actually been pushing this idea ever since Gasol arrived.. Gasol playing half his minutes at PF/C.. While Lamar gets around 30 MPG at PF off the bench.. another 5-8 minutes at SF throughout the game.. If Vlade's shot isn't falling, his minutes goto Luke if we need scoring, Ariza if an opposing wing is killing us & we need to stop the bleeding.

Vlad is a terrible defender, and Luke just sucks. Ariza won't help either because he can't space the floor for us, same with Lamar. I think going with the starting lineup of Fish-Vujacic-Kobe-Pau-Bynum seems to be the best idea IMO

I just can't anticipate something like this happening. Lamar is in a contract year, in the prime of his career, and I highly doubt he or his agent would accept coming off the bench. If Lamar gets a contract extension, perhaps, but if not, this would seriously damage his market value (which implies, Odom is a liability and is not starter-worthy for a championship caliber team).

Moreover, I doubt the Lakers will keep Odom at all, considering Bynum (via his agent) is seeking the maximum, or close to it.

Odom is replaced by Gasol on the court (at PF), and is replaced by Bynum on the payroll (3rd max contract).

At some point, the Lakers have to address the facts, and either be willing to rent Odom for a year, and let him audition for other teams, all while running the risk of a Smush Parker type of meltdown which would detract from the team. It may be an unfair comparison, but consider the fact that Odom is an emotional guy and isn't the most confident of players.

If the Lakers do pull the rug on Odom, it's going to be him as a starter...send him to the bench, and all hell will break loose - bank on it. He's in a contract year, and I doubt he has the fortitude to accept his limited role at the cost of his market value and his role and camaraderie with the team.

Ginobili is a unique case, particularly in comparison to Odom. First of all, believe it or not, Manu has started only half the games of his career. Coming off the bench has never been unusual for him. Second, he's proven that he's productive coming off the bench. Third, Ginobili has a clear role with the team. Fourth, Ginobili has the full trust of Pop and vice versa. Fifth, Manu is a champion and has enjoyed the ultimate success in his role. Sixth, Manu is regarded as an elite player, and his coming off the bench is a purely strategic move reflecting Popovic's coaching decision, and it doesn't indicate any real or perceived weakness in his game.

k, i'll shut up now

They're going to experiment a lot, so be patient and open-minded.

Besides, I don't care much who starts. I care about who finishes.

I agree with miles.

Odom is a goner, unfortunately. Even if he did develop a 3-point shot that would allow him to effectively play SF, the amount of money he commands is not going to allow us to resign him. He does deserve $10+ million a year, and it's hard to see us paying him that much.

Ginobli is basically a starter who comes into the game late

Odom is highly likely to start IMO, but if he did come off the bench he'd have a real good shot at the 6MOY award. Especially now that Manu is down after surgery.

I agree with the TS, we can play our triangle with Fish,Kobe,Ariza/Vlad/Luke,Gasol and Bynum as starters, then we can play a running game with farmar,vujacic,luke/vlad/Ariza,Odom,Powell on the floor

if odom starts..wed have the best starting lineup in the league...if odom comes off the bench..wed have the best backups in th league...farmar/sasha/ariza/odom/powell

either way..its a win/win situation

milesfides wrote:I just can't anticipate something like this happening. Lamar is in a contract year, in the prime of his career, and I highly doubt he or his agent would accept coming off the bench. If Lamar gets a contract extension

coach calls the shots, not lamar or his agent. not like he has the option of dogging it in his contract yr. like mentioned, this works towards his strengths.

this would seriously damage his market value (which implies, Odom is a liability and is not starter-worthy for a championship caliber team).

i don't think a yr of struggling at sf is going to be better for future contract. odom is a known talent. he was the starting pf for the western conf. champions. he's already proven that he's starter worthy on a title contender. benching him behind gasol shouldn't hurt him, everyone already knows that gasol is better than him.

i think what is better for the lakers is better for lamar. of course, lamar can come in an surprise everyone and develop a consistent outside shot and improve his lateral quickness to defend sf's well...but if he doesn't....thriving off the bench with starter minutes is ideal for all parties.