Ammo and Brown traded for Vlad Radmonovic

[Felton for Pres]

Its primarily on the defensive end and rebounding. He just carries himself in an odd manner. To me, it almost looked like he didn't want to do anything other than play offense. My wife asked me if he was stoned so I wasn't the only one noticing something odd.

Again, it was the first time I've watched him and only 2nd game with the team. Confusion could certainly lead to some bad body language.

I read some article about him showing up at Lakers practices in Vans and not really engaging in practices. Based on last nights datapoint, I can completely see that and that concerns me.

However, ILBIT.

[e4Nf6]

Its primarily on the defensive end and rebounding. He just carries himself in an odd manner.

It's always an interesting question with a guy like this. When you saw guys on the perimeter go right past him in LA (at certain times) was it because...

1. He doesnt care about defense
2. He does care but isnt capable of staying in front of certain SF`s
3. He is capable, but loses concentration

You could replace "defense" with "rebounding" and make another list....

Personally from what i`ve seen its about 80% #2 and 20% #3. He is just not quick enough to guard faster players. Also, he is not as big or as athletic as bigger NBA PFs. That said, every player has flaws, and his are not so bad. He does fine against average players.

Remember that LB wouldnt put up with the LEAGUE MVP dogging it in practice. I cant imagine he would allow Vladamir Radmonovich to do it.

[doc.end]

So how long do we have to wait before we go bump those threads on the general & trade boards ripping us for making such a dumb trade?

I would feel uncomfortable if they wouldn't ripping our trades there. This is meant to be funny but I actually mean it.

[freakon0mics]

So far Vlad has looked great. For what we gaved up, it was a bargain. Morrison was basically the filler of the deal. Shannon Brown was probably the target of the Lakers.

[Someone Else]

Its primarily on the defensive end and rebounding. He just carries himself in an odd manner. To me, it almost looked like he didn't want to do anything other than play offense. My wife asked me if he was stoned so I wasn't the only one noticing something odd.

However, ILBIT.

Haha it is truth, he look like he is stoned, since he came to LA. But in Seattle he was good. Hope that he will be good for you.

Diaw(Bell)>>>>>>Richardson, best trade in last year.

[snaquille oatmeal]

So far Vlad has looked great. For what we gaved up, it was a bargain. Morrison was basically the filler of the deal. Shannon Brown was probably the target of the Lakers.

actually the target for the Lakers was Ariza and Odom, Brown was a bonus and Ammo was the filler. the Lakers didn't really lose anything on the deal since Vladi was not playing for us anyway. I am glad that he is working out for you guys. he will have some more feast games and you guys will love him. when he does have his famine games just remember that he is so inconsistant at everything that he will have feast games again.

[microfib4thewin]

Its primarily on the defensive end and rebounding. He just carries himself in an odd manner.

It's always an interesting question with a guy like this. When you saw guys on the perimeter go right past him in LA (at certain times) was it because...

1. He doesnt care about defense
2. He does care but isnt capable of staying in front of certain SF`s
3. He is capable, but loses concentration

You could replace "defense" with "rebounding" and make another list....

Personally from what i`ve seen its about 80% #2 and 20% #3. He is just not quick enough to guard faster players. Also, he is not as big or as athletic as bigger NBA PFs. That said, every player has flaws, and his are not so bad. He does fine against average players.

Remember that LB wouldnt put up with the LEAGUE MVP dogging it in practice. I cant imagine he would allow Vladamir Radmonovich to do it.

I still remember two years ago when the Lakers played the Wizards. Vlad was assigned to Caron Butler, and whenever he guarded Butler he shuffled his feet so much it looked like he would fall at any second. Fast forward to the beginning of this year when he said he finally realized how important defense is after getting torched by Pierce and then getting replaced by Fluke Walton, and you pretty much have the timeline of the enigma known as Vladimir Radmanovic.

His defense before the snowboarding incident was crap, he got better and promised to make up for his mistake but his defense was very inconsistent, then at the beginning of this season after admitting he didn't understand the importance of playing D he played stellar for the first 8 games then fall back to Earth(or Mars according to Phil Jackson). He may not have crazy length like Durant or Odom and he may not be the best athlete around, but he certainly has the physical tools to play good defense, unfortunately it's always once every 5 games kind of thing. He had plenty of playing time last year when Walton struggled and Ariza was out with a foot injury, and he has never shown much effort on D & R.

Maybe he will be reformed, but I can't see his mindset taking a complete turnaround without LB needing months to knock him on the head.

[BigSlam]

You guys know that Ammo literally wore a t-shirt that said:

"if it wasn't for offense, I'd play defence"

right?

So basically, we have obtained a guy who doesn't play D but can stroke the long ball, hit open shots, is active and moves without the ball

for

a guy who doesn't play D, doesn't hit open shots, doesn't hit any shots, looks like he has been locked in a dark room and been hit with a rubber hose and has the personality of a wet rag.

I know who I'd want!

[dmutombo321]

Yeah, Vlad has, thus far, definitely been Rad-Money-vic

[fatlever]

all i got to say about vlad's defense.... compared to ammo, vlad is a lockdown defender. so maybe vlad is in the bottom 10% of the league in defense, but ammo is in the bottom 1%.

[e4Nf6]

Normally I'm not prone to hyperbole but....

Is Ammo the Worst defender in the NBA? He's got to be the worst getting minutes like he did....

Boykins was pretty bad, If he was still in the NBA I MIGHT choose Ammo over him. Earl at least had no trouble staying in front of his guy and didn't get pushed around. If he was guarding somebody who couldn't shoot he might be ok. Not that the NBA is exactly chock-full of PG's who can't shoot.....

Even guys like Kapono or Reddick , I think I would prefer over Ammo.

Other Candidates:
Eddy Curry
Nash
Steve Novak
Calderon
Brian Cook

[microfib4thewin]

You guys know that Ammo literally wore a t-shirt that said:

"if it wasn't for offense, I'd play defence"

right?

So basically, we have obtained a guy who doesn't play D but can stroke the long ball, hit open shots, is active and moves without the ball

for

a guy who doesn't play D, doesn't hit open shots, doesn't hit any shots, looks like he has been locked in a dark room and been hit with a rubber hose and has the personality of a wet rag.

I know who I'd want!

Anyone who has any clue on how trades and contracts work know this is purely a salary dump for the Lakers. Broadcasters may say things like 'hopefully Morrison will become a productive player' or 'Shannon might contribute' to the general audience, but it really doesn't mean a thing. Yes, I'd prefer Vlad over Morrison as a player, but since Vlad can't get playing time over Ariza or Walton it doesn't matter if we trade him for a player who MIGHT be as good as Vlad someday. If Vlad works out for you guys, then great. He could be a much more consistent player but has never played that way with the Lakers, I certainly wouldn't hold it against him because sometimes things just don't work out.

[Badd_Intentions]

We needed better backups and this trade did that. Vlad isn't perfect but he is big and can score off the bench and hit an open shot. He works well here b/c our quick guards create opportunities for open 3's.

Also when Crash is out, he can be somewhat depeneded on to score. Usually if Felts, Oak, and Crash don't all have decent games scoring we lose. Now we have a little more leeway if our starters are having an off night.

[Danny Darko]

At the risk of going against the grain here...I just got back from tonights game and I am very worried about Vlad's body language. Its bloody awful. I need more datapoints but his effort seems to come and go as he pleases, not overly different than some of the Lakers fan gripes about his work ethic.

Ok, so history wise I was the literally president of the Vlad Rad fanclub in LA until late last year.

I'm glad he's doing well, I think he'll be a good guy to have on the bench situationally, but what you see gets worse and worse and the comments about what happens when Crash comes back and he sees less minutes are right on the money. He has to be a big minute guy or he freaks. Every team he's been on has been the same in that regard.

He's just really weird. No idea how he can be so occasionally good, possess all those skills, and still he just doesn't pay attention.

in the end I think it was a good trade for both teams and I don't expect to see any real hard feeling about vlad until you are in a playoff hunt or in the playoffs and you realize he doesn't seem to know it, doesn't beef up his effort, and in the end is capable but unwilling of D.

All in all we just needed a few mil to ensure we can keep Odom and Ariza. I think you'll get some really good games out of Vlad and eventually he'll piss you off, but hopefully it won't be till he's an expiring you can move.