Please Think Outside the Box ...

[ALL HAIL]

Before beating me up I need everyone to please try their hardest to think outside the box on this one. I know this is easier for some than others.

Pau Gasol should come off the bench as our sixth man.

Why?
a. Better offensive chemistry in the starting five.
b. Allows Bynum and Artest to have a more defined offensive role to begin games.
c. Gasol is very adaptable and won't suffer from not practicing on the same squad w/ the rest of our main guys.
d. Better overall team balance with a legit offensive go-to option coming off the bench.
e. Starting five becomes a better defensive unit with Bynum and Odom.
f. Gasol will not see any less minutes than he does now and will definitely play in the 4th.
g. Starting Gasol w/ Kobe and Artest will stunt the growth of Bynum who will NEVER see the ball.
h. Making your second best player a sixth man on a championship team is not unprecedented: The Celtics did it with Kevin McHale for many of the same aforementioned reasons.

Let the thrashing commence.

[RJM]

If you knew it was coming, why say it anyways? Lamar coming off the bench won us a championship. He stays there.

[Slava]

Before beating me up I need everyone to please try their hardest to think outside the box on this one. I know this is easier for some than others.

Pau Gasol should come off the bench as our sixth man.

Why?
a. Better offensive chemistry in the starting five.
b. Allows Bynum and Artest to have a more defined offensive role to begin games.
c. Gasol is very adaptable and won't suffer from not practicing on the same squad w/ the rest of our main guys.
d. Better overall team balance with a legit offensive go-to option coming off the bench.
e. Starting five becomes a better defensive unit with Bynum and Odom.
f. Gasol will not see any less minutes than he does now and will definitely play in the 4th.
g. Starting Gasol w/ Kobe and Artest will stunt the growth of Bynum who will NEVER see the ball.
h. Making your second best player a sixth man on a championship team is not unprecedented: The Celtics did it with Kevin McHale for many of the same aforementioned reasons.
Let the thrashing commence.

Shift Bynum to the bench. He gets the ball and becomes the focus of the offense. Problem solved.

[DubaLakers]

Pau is going to get first team all NBA next year. You don't sit the best PF in the game on the bench. If you want to experiment with DFish, Bynum, Lamar, go ahead find out the best mix, but to me the three guys that are set in stone in that starting lineup are KB24, Artest, and Gasol.

Can I get an AMEN ?

[UAWildcats]

if it ain't broke, no need to fix it.

[Rain_Maker]

i have thinking every since offseason started, move Bynum to the bench, but give him plenty of minutes

Gasol/Bynum
Powell/Lamar
Artest/Luke
Kobe/Sasha
Fisher/Brown

this will put Bynum's effectivness to the max, and the same with the rest of the players

if we do Bynum, Gasol, Artest, Kobe, Fisher, these players wont be as effective as they can be

[DEEP3CL]

Pau Gasol should come off the bench as our sixth man.

Why?
a. Better offensive chemistry in the starting five.
b. Allows Bynum and Artest to have a more defined offensive role to begin games.
c. Gasol is very adaptable and won't suffer from not practicing on the same squad w/ the rest of our main guys.
d. Better overall team balance with a legit offensive go-to option coming off the bench.
e. Starting five becomes a better defensive unit with Bynum and Odom.
f. Gasol will not see any less minutes than he does now and will definitely play in the 4th.
g. Starting Gasol w/ Kobe and Artest will stunt the growth of Bynum who will NEVER see the ball.
h. Making your second best player a sixth man on a championship team is not unprecedented: The Celtics did it with Kevin McHale for many of the same aforementioned reasons.


My answers
A. By taking Pau out the starting 5 means new 5 will have to rebuild chemistry.

B. We still don't need Drew to have a "defined role" he's not he focal point of the O yet.

C. Your limiting Pau's role big time, which will throw off chemistry even more.

D. You have a point, it's just not in the realm of reality.

E. All off season outsiders thought this about Odom, people he's not a one on one defender
or help side defender. He's what I call an opportunistic shot blocker, gets one only if the
guy screwed up and showed him the ball. He's not a go getter.

F. Meaning you sit LO, because Phil isn't playing Drew a lot of 4th minutes until he proves durable.

G. Disagree big time, again we don't need Drew seeing 20-25 shots a game yet.
I just don't see how he won't ever see the ball, Artest only posts if it's an advantage.

H. He was a starter off and on during his career. The Celtics for as good as they were didn't have
a lot of bench depth. Which was the main reason McHale was moved in and out of the bench.

Thinking outside the box ? I just don't see basketball wise how the Lakers are in an advantageous position here. By your logic a line up of Drew, Ron, LO, Derek and Kobe is better defensively as you said but Fish struggles with every point in the league except for maybe D-Will of the Jazz.

Secondly LO isn't going to guard 2 guards especially if Ron is going to check the 3's......even if you flip it.....won't work at all. Your hypothesis is basically the Lakers are better in your eyes if Pau comes off the bench...........and finally the Lakers aren't paying Pau $16,452,000 this season and $17,823,000 next season to come off the bench.

[Verbal]

ALL HAIL, I know what you're getting at.

I like your thinking.


It's not a bad idea but I agree w/ the basic notion that DubaLakers just said - (imo) he's basically saying that it's not the best option for the team at this moment.

Especially since "POW GASOW!" is balling like the ALL-NBA talent I endorsed him to be years ago.



Btw ALL HAIL, big ups on the Kevin Mchale shoutout!

I know he's a Celtic and all but I know he was quality player in the league too; just like how I felt Pau was a PF capable of handling the business on our Laker team before I watched Pau in a game.

(I've only seen a few scattered short clips of Gasol before the trade or my endorsement for him... one being his dunk on KG as a young buck.... another being a game where Bynum got injuried [I think he was there]... and another game where he sat on the sidelines [I think] while Kobe was going for one of his 50-50-50-50-50-50 scoring barrages in a loss & in a win against Memphis in '06, hehe)

I've been fortunate to catch a few of McHale's games b/c I saw a ~45min Bird show and he seemed to be a capable scorer that had good interior defense. Skilled player, much like Gasol is. Different style but that's a different era, hehe.

I'm straying a bit off topic, but back to the point, good post, keep it up man.

[Verbal]

Pau is going to get first team all NBA next year. You don't sit the best PF in the game on the bench. If you want to experiment with DFish, Bynum, Lamar, go ahead find out the best mix, but to me the three guys that are set in stone in that starting lineup are KB24, Artest, and Gasol.

Can I get an AMEN ?

+2, DubaLakers

It's usually a bad idea to jerk "the hand that feeds" around.

While Bynum needs babysitters (facilitators) to force feed him the ball to get going down low, Pau can just face up and finish - at a sniper's accuracy (70%+) when needed.


Bynum isn't untouchable yet, so he's still trade-able and movable.

Gasol is a max player earning his keep.


Haters can hate all they want but it won't change the truth.

Consider this an "Amen" from one Laker fan to another Laker fan.

[Verbal]

Pau Gasol should come off the bench as our sixth man.

Why?
a. Better offensive chemistry in the starting five.
b. Allows Bynum and Artest to have a more defined offensive role to begin games.
c. Gasol is very adaptable and won't suffer from not practicing on the same squad w/ the rest of our main guys.
d. Better overall team balance with a legit offensive go-to option coming off the bench.
e. Starting five becomes a better defensive unit with Bynum and Odom.
f. Gasol will not see any less minutes than he does now and will definitely play in the 4th.
g. Starting Gasol w/ Kobe and Artest will stunt the growth of Bynum who will NEVER see the ball.
h. Making your second best player a sixth man on a championship team is not unprecedented: The Celtics did it with Kevin McHale for many of the same aforementioned reasons.


My answers
A. By taking Pau out the starting 5 means new 5 will have to rebuild chemistry.

B. We still don't need Drew to have a "defined role" he's not he focal point of the O yet.

C. Your limiting Pau's role big time, which will throw off chemistry even more.

D. You have a point, it's just not in the realm of reality.

E. All off season outsiders thought this about Odom, people he's not a one on one defender
or help side defender. He's what I call an opportunistic shot blocker, gets one only if the
guy screwed up and showed him the ball. He's not a go getter.

F. Meaning you sit LO, because Phil isn't playing Drew a lot of 4th minutes until he proves durable.

G. Disagree big time, again we don't need Drew seeing 20-25 shots a game yet.
I just don't see how he won't ever see the ball, Artest only posts if it's an advantage.

H. He was a starter off and on during his career. The Celtics for as good as they were didn't have
a lot of bench depth. Which was the main reason McHale was moved in and out of the bench.

Thinking outside the box ? I just don't see basketball wise how the Lakers are in an advantageous position here. By your logic a line up of Drew, Ron, LO, Derek and Kobe is better defensively as you said but Fish struggles with every point in the league except for maybe D-Will of the Jazz.

Secondly LO isn't going to guard 2 guards especially if Ron is going to check the 3's......even if you flip it.....won't work at all. Your hypothesis is basically the Lakers are better in your eyes if Pau comes off the bench...........and finally the Lakers aren't paying Pau $16,452,000 this season and $17,823,000 next season to come off the bench.

+3, Deep


On point, bringing the truth and making them feel it.

It makes it worthwhile to come back here when I see there are still basketball fans that can and aren't afraid to keep it real.

[DubaLakers]

Thanks Verbal .

[DEEP3CL]

+3, Deep


On point, bringing the truth and making them feel it.

It makes it worthwhile to come back here when I see there are still basketball fans that can and aren't afraid to keep it real.

Thx Verb, you know me man......the knife is sharp on both sides either way I'm cuttin something !

[Sofa King]

Hey look what I found in the box. Its the championship trophy. They must have gift wrapped it for us inside the box.

[SashAlex]

Let it be like it is. No need to change everything and break the chemistry. Artest will get the same amount of touches as Ariza, otherwise, sit him on the bench. Artest knows, I hope, that in this team with Kobe and Pau he won't get the same touches he got before.

Good to see that Artest has worked on his body to be a better defensive presence. Now, he better improve his long range jumper and be a spot up shooter for us. Him taking the ball for a post game many times will only hurt the 1st unit. I say, let Artest get mroe touches with the 2nd unit on the floor, when Kobe and Pau rest.

So, we don't have to move our 2nd best player and the catalizator of our offense on the bench only to make it easier for Artest. From Bynum we need first of all many rebounds, block shots and and a big presence inside. When he gets his timing back, he'll start getting more touches, alley-ops etc. etc.

[Tommy Trojan]

Before beating me up I need everyone to please try their hardest to think outside the box on this one. I know this is easier for some than others.

Pau Gasol should come off the bench as our sixth man.

Why?
a. Better offensive chemistry in the starting five.
b. Allows Bynum and Artest to have a more defined offensive role to begin games.
c. Gasol is very adaptable and won't suffer from not practicing on the same squad w/ the rest of our main guys.
d. Better overall team balance with a legit offensive go-to option coming off the bench.
e. Starting five becomes a better defensive unit with Bynum and Odom.
f. Gasol will not see any less minutes than he does now and will definitely play in the 4th.
g. Starting Gasol w/ Kobe and Artest will stunt the growth of Bynum who will NEVER see the ball.
h. Making your second best player a sixth man on a championship team is not unprecedented: The Celtics did it with Kevin McHale for many of the same aforementioned reasons.
Let the thrashing commence.

Shift Bynum to the bench. He gets the ball and becomes the focus of the offense. Problem solved.

[Magicontinues]

if it ain't broke, no need to fix it.

Word, the question is why? Why put Pau on the Bench? Why this thread?

[Magicontinues]

Before beating me up I need everyone to please try their hardest to think outside the box on this one. I know this is easier for some than others.

Pau Gasol should come off the bench as our sixth man.

Why?
a. Better offensive chemistry in the starting five.
b. Allows Bynum and Artest to have a more defined offensive role to begin games.
c. Gasol is very adaptable and won't suffer from not practicing on the same squad w/ the rest of our main guys.
d. Better overall team balance with a legit offensive go-to option coming off the bench.
e. Starting five becomes a better defensive unit with Bynum and Odom.
f. Gasol will not see any less minutes than he does now and will definitely play in the 4th.
g. Starting Gasol w/ Kobe and Artest will stunt the growth of Bynum who will NEVER see the ball.
h. Making your second best player a sixth man on a championship team is not unprecedented: The Celtics did it with Kevin McHale for many of the same aforementioned reasons.
Let the thrashing commence.

Shift Bynum to the bench. He gets the ball and becomes the focus of the offense. Problem solved.

Now that makes more sense that a-G.

[The Skyhook]

I have always thought that if anyone would get moved to the bench it would be Drew. He would be the main option on the bench since he has that scoring mentality. With the starting unit he won't have much of a chance to score but that should be a good thing because it could help him develop a defensive mentality rather than score first.

[Dexmor]

The most obvious answer is usually the right one. When you hear gallops think horses not unicorns.

Gasol should not only be the starter but probably the first option in the begining of the game to get the inside game going.

Besides having Odom as 6th man is having a player come in that can play all 5 positions. Can't do that with Gasol.

Everybody should check ego at the door. There is enough shots for everybody if you play right.

[Slava]

I have always thought that if anyone would get moved to the bench it would be Drew. He would be the main option on the bench since he has that scoring mentality. With the starting unit he won't have much of a chance to score but that should be a good thing because it could help him develop a defensive mentality rather than score first.

That and Farmar has always played well when he's got that 2 man game going with Drew/Pau. Their pick n rolls are pretty effective. Can't do that with Odom.