Laker Bench Overrated!

sam_I_am · Post #1 » by **sam_I_am** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 1:20 am

This is the Laker Bench:

1. Vucavic
2. Walton
3. Farmar
4. Turiaf

Why should we be afraid? Where is there a Stuckey or a Maxiel? As great bench's go this is pretty weak. Where is the great 6th man? Yes, it is a productive, energetic unit that gets the job done.

But why should the Celtics be afraid? Where is the supposed advantage over:

1. Posey
2. Cassell
3. PJ Brown
4. Eddie House
5. Leon Powe/Big Baby

Vucavic is a big time bench scorer and he could be a big factor in this series because of his all around skills. I'd still rather have Posey on my bench. Turiaf and Powe are clones and a wash. Walton is a nice player but can he really be asked to guard Paul Pierce or Posey? Farmar is a decent backup PG but I think Rondo/House or Cassell is a huge advantabge over Fisher/Farmar.

Everybody is calling the bench a huge advantage for the Lakers but I just don't see it. The Lakers starting 5 is so well rounded much like the Pistons that we will need for Rondo and Perk to step up offensively. Can Gasol actually guard Perkins in the post? Can Fisher handle Rondo's speed? Can Fisher guard Ray Allen so Kobe can take Rondo?

Call me crazy but I think the matchups are so lopsided that Kobe is going to have to prove he is more than the great MJ against us to win.

GonzoLays · Post #2 » by **GonzoLays** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 1:37 am

The Laker bench is a fraud. Two of those guys are shooting in the 30% range for the playoffs and for some odd reason, Sasha Vujacic has a nickname: "themachine."

I mean, you use to have to earn nicknames back in the day. Like after Pierce dropped 42 on the Lakers, Shaq bestowed upon him "the truth" moniker.

But now, every cat in the league has a nickname. What in the **** has Sasha Vujacic done in this league to get a nickname like "themachine?" Tell me. That clown averages 8 points a game and wears a female's hairband to keep his hair back.

"Themachine"...get the **** out of here. If Sasha Vujacic is a machine, what kind of machine would he be? I can't even give him a wack-ass machine name. Na, wait we could call him "thevending machine." World-class performance right there. Or we could call give him biological machine name like "thevirus" or "thebacteria."

**** a Sasha Vujacic.

grantlongforpresident · Post #3 » by **grantlongforpresident** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 1:41 am

sam_I_am wrote:Call me crazy but I think the matchups are so lopsided that Kobe is going to have to prove he is more than the great MJ against us to win.

First of all, Atlanta took us to 7 games and they only won 37 during the regular season. Then Cleveland took us to 7, and Detroit 6. ]

Meanwhile L.A. has been taking care of business against much better teams.

I'm not trying to be a downer, i'm just saying...

JzaAa · Post #4 » by **JzaAa** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 1:42 am

So ignorant.

JzaAa · Post #5 » by **JzaAa** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 1:42 am

referring to gonzo.

grantlongforpresident · Post #6 » by **grantlongforpresident** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 1:42 am

GonzoLays wrote:The Laker bench is a fraud. Two of those guys are shooting in the 30% range for the playoffs and for some odd reason, Sasha Vujacic has a nickname: "themachine."

I mean, you use to have to earn nicknames back in the day. Like after Pierce dropped 42 on the Lakers, Shaq bestowed upon him "the truth" moniker.

But now, every cat in the league has a nickname. What in the **** has Sasha Vujacic done in this league to get a nickname like "themachine?" Tell me. That clown averages 8 points a game and wears a female's hairband to keep his hair back.

"Themachine"...get the **** out of here. If Sasha Vujacic is a machine, what kind of machine would he be? I can't even give him a wack-ass machine name. Na, wait we could call him "thevending machine." World-class performance right there. Or we could call give him biological machine name like "thevirus" or "thebacteria."

**** a Sasha Vujacic.

LOL! i like "theVendingMachine"

DubaLakers · Post #7 » by **DubaLakers** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:06 am

The Lakers bench is pretty damn good. The thing about the Laker bench is they run the offense efficiently if not at times better, because you gotta remember Kobe is mprovising if he gets the right matchup, breaking from the triangle. The bench just keeps running the offense. Don't forget about Ariza! 6 8 excellent defender. We also got DJ Benga a leaper dunker for the easy slams. We got Mihm. Ira Newble lol. I really think that is the reason why they get good press they play well together and they attack, and they run the offense. Turiaf is our best shot blocker and he's on the benchmob. Ariza is one of the best defenders on the team benchplayer. Vujacic had a couple bad series in a row offensively all the sudden he was terribly erratic, but he has had an excellent playoffs on the defensive side. Lastly they are so damn young, and the celts bench has one foot in the grave. You don;t think it matters? Did you see the Spurs?

DubaLakers · Post #8 » by **DubaLakers** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:08 am

Posey had a great series vs Detroit. House is always a concern but the Lakers are familiar with him.

Joselo16 · Post #9 » by **Joselo16** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:23 am

We can't underestimate their bench. I hate to say it but they don't have that one guy (6th man) that is above the others because they all play well, each bringing a different element to the unit, while all bring energy due to their youth(which I hope comes back to bite them). If Ariza is healthy he could be key, since he has always played Paul pretty well (in his Knick, Magic days) due to his lenght, but then again Prince had that advantage as well.

Didn't Sasha give himself that nickname, isn't that the reason Charles and Kenny make fun of him?

Can't wait for this series to start!!!

dinoz · Post #10 » by **dinoz** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:32 am

The Lakers bench is overrated because many times they are in games late in a Laker blowout and are shooting free and easy, padding their stats. When a game is tight, these guys struggle to create offense and make shots.

seccom · Post #11 » by **seccom** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:49 am

Joselo16 wrote:We can't underestimate their bench. I hate to say it but they don't have that one guy (6th man) that is above the others because they all play well, each bringing a different element to the unit, while all bring energy due to their youth(which I hope comes back to bite them). If Ariza is healthy he could be key, since he has always played Paul pretty well (in his Knick, Magic days) due to his lenght, but then again Prince had that advantage as well.

Didn't Sasha give himself that nickname, isn't that the reason Charles and Kenny make fun of him?

Can't wait for this series to start!!!

No. He did not nickname himself. It was from Lakers' TV crew. Doug Collins got it wrong over and over again.

There is many thread in the Lakers Forum to try to correct Collins.

DubaLakers · Post #12 » by **DubaLakers** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:49 am

Instead of bashing our bench that has been one of the best in the L, maybe you should be a little concerned about your own bench. Looking at the two benches if the Lakers bench gets fast break opportunities it's gonna be rough. You better get every board. If it gets bad you'll have to play starters on the second team whcih just breaks down your starting 5. Good luck with that.

3pt % · Post #13 » by **3pt %** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:56 am

Doc has stopped playing a second team, so easy there DL.

It is starter central in Keltic land.

seccom · Post #14 » by **seccom** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:59 am

dinoz wrote:The Lakers bench is overrated because many times they are in games late in a Laker blowout and are shooting free and easy, padding their stats. When a game is tight, these guys struggle to create offense and make shots.

Did you actually watch game 4 between Spurs and the Lakers?

If you did not, find the video and watch the first 5 minutes of the 2nd Q and 4th Q.

daveisceltics · Post #15 » by **daveisceltics** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 3:16 am

I didn't even know the Lakers bench was rated anything.
They aren't too good that's for sure.

tanat-0s · Post #16 » by **tanat-0s** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 4:07 am

why the hell LA fans keep bringing Ariza into the discussion?
he's not playing in this series, period.
and besides, we have TA, who's as good on defense and better scorer and all-around player.

Truthiracy · Post #17 » by **Truthiracy** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 4:10 am

GonzoLays wrote:The Laker bench is a fraud. Two of those guys are shooting in the 30% range for the playoffs and for some odd reason, Sasha Vujacic has a nickname: "themachine."

I mean, you use to have to earn nicknames back in the day. Like after Pierce dropped 42 on the Lakers, Shaq bestowed upon him "the truth" moniker.

But now, every cat in the league has a nickname. What in the **** has Sasha Vujacic done in this league to get a nickname like "themachine?" Tell me. That clown averages 8 points a game and wears a female's hairband to keep his hair back.

"Themachine"...get the **** out of here. If Sasha Vujacic is a machine, what kind of machine would he be? I can't even give him a wack-ass machine name. Na, wait we could call him "thevending machine." World-class performance right there. Or we could call give him biological machine name like "thevirus" or "thebacteria."

**** a Sasha Vujacic.

Excellent post, faker fans are blind animals.

Truthiracy · Post #18 » by **Truthiracy** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 4:13 am

DubaLakers wrote:Instead of bashing our bench that has been one of the best in the L, maybe you should be a little concerned about your own bench.

Maybe you should be concerned with the Faker board instead of waddling over here. Don't you have some new Kobe sex scandal to talk about over there?

eatyourchildren · Post #19 » by **eatyourchildren** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 4:17 am

Ok wait a minute...so the argument that the Lakers bench sucks/is overrated is best explained with these two arguments:

1. No individual Lakers bench player is better than the best Celtics bench player; and
2. The Lakers bench players are bad matchups against the Celtics starters?

Does any other rational, intelligent person see anything wrong with these arguments, or is it just me

As a 4-5 man unit, the Lakers bench has been top-3 in the league and have been given the minutes (even in the playoffs *coughdocriversblowscough*) to make it a meaningful sample size

LarryBrdismyDad · Post #20 » by **LarryBrdismyDad** » Mon Jun 2, 2008 4:47 am

Let's really breakdown the Lakers bench.

Scrubs - Coby Karl, DJ Mbenga, Ira Newble, and Trevor Ariza. The first three haven't really played much in the postseason and while Ariza has talent he has played in exactly 3 playoff games so I doubt Jackson is going to put him out there that much in the NBA Finals. Expect Ariza to get less then 5 mins a game as he could see some time guarding Pierce as Walton and Vlad Rad have no shot in hell at stopping him.

Ronny Turiaf - He has played about 10 minutes per game in the last 2 series. He brings a ton of energy, strength, and athleticism. He is also a good defender and should see some time on KG. If we keep him off the boards he is neutralized as he really doesn't have much offense. He basically brings the same things to the table that Powe does but hes an inch or two taller.

Jordan Farmar - This kid is a pretty good player. He stuggled during the Jazz series but he has since recovered and played well against the Spurs. He is quick with the ball and has good athleticism. Hopefully Rondo will play well this series so we can play him 40 mins+. Farmar doesn't really create shots for others in the triangle offense but he can feed off Kobe, Odom, and Gasol by hitting open jumpers. Farmar can not defend like Lindsay Hunter and shouldn't give Cassell the same type of problems.

Luke Walton - Walton is an excellent passer and he knows their offense very well. He has shot the ball very well in the postseason as well. Posey should be able to lock him down however and he can't guard Pierce to save his life.

Sasha Vujacic - The Lakers put him in a lot towards the end of games by taking Vlad Rad out. Sasha shot poorly in the Spurs series but played well in the 2 before those. He brings a lot to the table at 6-7 being able to handle the ball and shoot is very important. He can also defend very well and gave Ginobili problems in the last series but Manu was also hurt. I expect to see alot of this kid guarding Ray Allen and placing Kobe on Rajon Rondo so Kobe can be a roamer. Ray and Pierce must attack this kid if he is guarding them because that is a mismatch.

Overall: The Lakers do have a good bench but when was the last time a bench won a NBA Finals LOL. The big time players will determine who wins this series and not the becnh guys who will play 10 to 15 minutes a game. The key with the backups of the Lakers is pounding them on the boards and beating them on offense so you can dictate the pace and negate the fastbreak. The Lakers two weaknesses are rebounding and defense. They are not consistent in these two areas and if we come to play we should be able to exploit them here. Also, I expect a lot better ball handling this series and less turnovers as the Lakers don't really have any good defenders outside of Kobe. Fisher used to be a great defender but he is 34 yrs old now and Rondo can easily beat him with his speed. The bottomline to stopping the Lakers bench though is pounding them on the boards, taking care of the ball, and exploiting their defense.