Jan 3, 2009: Houston @ Atlanta - 7pm

[JoshB914]

But if we do develop Acie we are going to lose... Bibby and Flip are doing the job just fine right now and I think we can all agree on that.

We're done "developing" guys. It's time to win and it's time to win now. If Acie is not playing well enough to get on the floor then there is no reason to play him. I'm not saying Woody is doing the right thing with all the DNP's, but playing a guy simply for the sake of developing him at this point is pointless.

A few years ago, even last year perhaps, it would have made sense. But right now we aren't doing that. We are 11 games over .500, the best players that give us the best chance to win need to be on the court.

[parson]

So.... we should give up our draft picks from here on? Should PORT give up on Oden? Were the Lakers wrong for developing Bynum for the past few years?

Sorry, it doesn't wash. If a NBA coaching staff cannot develop players AND play to win, then there are coaches who can.

As for your assertion that "it's time to win and it's time to win now" please note that we're not ready to win in the only season that matters -- the POSTseason. Right now, we're engineered to throw a scare into a good team and then bow out where we don't have the home court advantage.

Only a championship-level team could think as you're advocating.

[JoshB914]

That's not what I meant, parson. Obviously young players should play when they are needed. But playing guys simply for the sake of developing them is no longer what we should be doing. That is what teams like Memphis, GSW, and Sacramento are doing (i.e. the Hawks before this season).

I don't see how the Bynum example applies. He didn't even play when he first came into the league, and he spent a lot of his time on the floor developing when LAL was nowhere close to being a championship caliber team or even a team that could truly compete in the playoffs. As for Oden, he was the no. 1 pick of the draft, so obviously he is going to be treated differently.

I also strongly disagree about us not being able to win in the postseason. If we can get home court advantage we will have a great chance to get out of the first round which would represent a massive step forward for this franchise. The race for that no. 4 seed is going to be very tight with Detroit and I'm not willing to sacrifice it just to see if Acie Law has what it takes to be a starting PG in the future.

It is Acie's responsibility to show Woody that he deserves to play. Whether he is being given a fair shake or not is another argument altogether. But giving him minutes every game just to see what happens is should not be a part of the plan.

We need to realize that the days of "developing young players" and "building for the future" are over. That is what we were doing over the past several seasons. Now it's time to win. And while we clearly have a long way to go, we have been doing plenty of winning this season, and I hope we continue to do that whether it be with or without Acie.

[tontoz]

Smith has been lame on the boards lately. He got only 2 rebounds against Houston and has been rebounding poorly all year. I still don't think he has every heard of boxing out.

[HoopsGuru25]

If we don't develop Acie, then we're faced with a huge contract for Mike Bibby. The originally stated plan was for Bibby to help us win now and give Acie time to grow. Woodson is frittering that time away.

Developing Acie right now could potentially cost us wins...and Acie does not project to be a player that is good enough to worry about when the team is 22-11.

As for your claim that Acie is "useless playing off the ball" let me remind you that he was a pretty good shooter in college. Some of his problems can be attributed to better NBA defenses but much of it has to be blamed on poor playing time and lack of confidence. I don't believe that a good shooter will continue to not remember how to shoot.

Acie was never a 3 point shooter in college and he didn't project to be a good 3 point shooter in the NBA. He made one three pointer a game and the 3 point shot in college is a midrange shot in the NBA. So far in the NBA he's shooting 22% from 3. That alone means he's a poor fit playing next to Joe who get's doubled as much as any other perimeter player in the NBA.

Acie is a much better general

I'm not sure exactly what this means but there's no way Acie is better at directing an offense than Bibby.

a much better defender and much, much cheaper

So is Royal Ivey. That doesn't mean he'd be a better option as the starting point guard.

If he gets confidence in his outside shot, he could be golden for us.

I'm not sure why you think Acie's lack of a 3 point shot has to do with confidence. He didn't show NBA 3 point range in college and hasn't shown in now. You don't get 3 point range by game experience...that's something you work on in the off-season(ala Marvin this year).

It appears that we hired a coach who is good at teaching defense but poor at offense and lousy at teaching young players. This may be Billy Knight's greatest mistake.

I blamed Woody for starting Lo Wright while Shelden was 3rd string in 2007 and I blamed Woody for the period in which the team was in free for all when he still trotted out AJ for 30 minutes a game...however being upset now when the team is 22-11 is laughable. Horford,Marvin,Smith,and Chill were all firmly in the rotation in their rookie years. The fact is that Acie and Shelden were/are mediocre young players who likely project to be mediocre vets in a few years regardless of their development.

[HoopsGuru25]

So.... we should give up our draft picks from here on? Should PORT give up on Oden? Were the Lakers wrong for developing Bynum for the past few years?

I had to respond to this too.

1. We shouldn't give up our picks...we should use them on better players.

2. Comparing Law to Bynum and Oden is a joke. Bynum and Oden are both talented enough in which they can be the difference maker between a team being good or being great. Law was an NBA ready player who hasn't played particularly well in the little minutes he's played in. He isn't anywhere near good enough to warrant entitlement minutes on a 22-11 team.

[JoshB914]

Smith has been lame on the boards lately. He got only 2 rebounds against Houston and has been rebounding poorly all year. I still don't think he has every heard of boxing out.

+1. I really hope I'm wrong, but Josh doesn't look like he wants to do the "dirty work" right now. I also hope that isn't a result of him getting a big contract and trying to become a scorer all of a sudden. He is averaging less than 7 RPG and that is completely unacceptable. His shot blocking is also well below par, but I'm thinking that could be a result of his ankle still bothering him a bit.

He is at his best when he focuses on doing the little things like rebounding, blocking shots, and playing defense. If he does that his offense will come. But it looks like he is trying to get his points before thinking about doing those other things, and those are the areas where we need him the most.

[parson]

I had to respond to this too.

1. We shouldn't give up our picks...we should use them on better players.

Why didn't I think of that?

2. Comparing Law to Bynum and Oden is a joke. Bynum and Oden are both talented enough in which they can be the difference maker between a team being good or being great. Law was an NBA ready player who hasn't played particularly well in the little minutes he's played in. He isn't anywhere near good enough to warrant entitlement minutes on a 22-11 team.

I don't think you've been watching Oden play this season. Solomon Jones is playing better.

And my point about Bynum was that the Lakers were not just playoff hopefuls like us but championship candidates as they've been playing/developing Bynum.

[JoshB914]

The Lakers never became championship contenders until they traded for Gasol. That was when Bynum was injured. I don't see where you get the idea that they were competing for championships AND giving him minutes to develop.

06-07 was the year that they were "playing and developing" him and they finished just above .500 that season and lost in the first round.

[HoopsGuru25]

I had to respond to this too.

1. We shouldn't give up our picks...we should use them on better players.

Why didn't I think of that?

My point was that you shouldn't be complaining about the coaching staff's failure to develop mediocre players when the bigger issue is that there were better players drafted after Acie. Rodney Stuckey(not that I advocated drafting a player I'd never heard of before the lottery) is a player who started out in a simiar position as Acie and produced far more in the minutes he was given which is what led to him getting huge minutes. Playoff teams don't go out their way to "develop" mediocre young players(Acie,Julian Wright,Robin Lopez,Sean Williams,etc) if it will cost them wins.

I don't think you've been watching Oden play this season. Solomon Jones is playing better.

1. Based on what?

2. Solomon is playing better than Acie IMO.

And my point about Bynum was that the Lakers were not just playoff hopefuls like us but championship candidates as they've been playing/developing Bynum.

1. The Lakers weren't "championship candidates" when they were developing Bynum as Josh said.

2. Please stop comparing Law to players who are much more talented and have much more upside than him like Oden and Bynum. It's like someone comparing Shelden to Josh Smith or Al Jefferson.