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Will Gasol minus Bynum really be the difference?
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 3:26 pm
by DorfonCeltics
I have been thinking about this for the last few days. Now the C's beat the Lakers twice this year with their incredible defense. Granted, both of those games the Lakers were without Gasol althought they did have Bynum playing. Now does the addition of a talented veteran center really make the difference when you're subtracting a talented young center at the same time?
I would love to hear from both Celtics and Lakers fans on this topic. Are the Lakers really 16 ponts better than the Celtics with Gasol and without Bynum because that's the average margin of victory for the Celtics over the Lakers this year? Just curious.
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 4:58 pm
by John from Hemet
Gasol just makes the lakers a different kind of team.....
He is not as good defensively.....Bynum made guys think twice about driving the lane Gasol wont do that....he will defend players with his length and get a couple of blocks but is not really a shot blocker
BUT
THat ball doesnt move with Bynum like it does ith Gasol......he really opens up the triangle for what the lakers like to do with their spacing on the floor. Pluse he can create his own offense. Bynum was a catch and dunk "I am bigger then you" player.....Gasol is a very good fundamental playel.
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 4:58 pm
by John from Hemet
Gasol just makes the lakers a different kind of team.....
He is not as good defensively.....Bynum made guys think twice about driving the lane Gasol wont do that....he will defend players with his length and get a couple of blocks but is not really a shot blocker
BUT
THat ball doesnt move with Bynum like it does ith Gasol......he really opens up the triangle for what the lakers like to do with their spacing on the floor. Pluse he can create his own offense. Bynum was a catch and dunk "I am bigger then you" player.....Gasol is a very good fundamental playel.
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 5:10 pm
by Datruth345
also it tough to compare two games from early in the season to the nba finals in terms of intensity and focus
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 5:10 pm
by Polvoron
It isn't Gasol minus Bynum.
Gasol makes life much easier to Odom.
He can play with the back to the basket and is a great passer, so Vujacic, Radmanovic and Fisher get more open shots.
Anyway, the diference is with Bynum the Lakers were contending to win the WC in the regular season with other 3 o 4 teams.
With Gasol the Lakers have won at a .850 clip.
With Bynum the Lakers were a very good team; with Gasol they are elite.
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 5:22 pm
by celticfan42487
It's so weird, if you asked me before the playoffs that if I were managing the Lakers and I had to choose one of Bynum or Gasol to be fully healthy and pair with Odom at PF.
It'd be a really hard decision for me because I'd want to control the boards with Bynumn and have that intimidation factor for shots.
I'd go with Gasol for veterant and credentials of course but I'd never expect it to be this big of a diffrence. Makes me wonder if Bynumn at 5 Gasol at 4 and Odom at 3 is a good idea.
Maybe with the triangle they could use a very good SF instead of Bynumn and keep Gasol at the 5 with Odom at the 4.
Gasol has always been underated though, he was a perfect example of a franchise 4 maybe he's just as good at teh 5.
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 7:02 pm
by lojowo
Polvoron wrote:With Gasol the Lakers have won at a .850 clip.
With Bynum the Lakers were a very good team; with Gasol they are elite.
Since Feb 5th, Gasol's first game, I have them at 39-12 but I only looked at it quickly.
Thats a .764, still less then the celtics regular season clip.
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 7:11 pm
by Tricky Ricky
I made a thread about this on the LA board this morning. It seems that more would want Gasol playing than Bynum
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 7:38 pm
by Polvoron
lojowo wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Since Feb 5th, Gasol's first game, I have them at 39-12 but I only looked at it quickly.
Thats a .764, still less then the celtics regular season clip.
Gasol got injured and missed 10 games around mid March in which the Lakers went 5-5.
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 8:22 pm
by ShowtimeFan
Just to see how Bynum and Gasol will do together, what say the Lakers and Celtics get together for the Championship NEXT season as well?
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 8:41 pm
by DorfonCeltics
ShowtimeFan wrote:Just to see how Bynum and Gasol will do together, what say the Lakers and Celtics get together for the Championship NEXT season as well?
Sounds good to me. How about we take the championship this year and we'll give you a shot at it next year? Deal?
Posted: Mon Jun 2, 2008 9:17 pm
by celticfan42487
ShowtimeFan wrote:Just to see how Bynum and Gasol will do together, what say the Lakers and Celtics get together for the Championship NEXT season as well?
Do you think it will work like it has now?
Bynumn Gasol Odom front court
Will be much diffrent then a Gasol,Odom,Radman front court
perhaps the Gasol/Odom tandeum is picture perfect for the triangle with both being extremely talented for their positions. And perhaps Odom gets under used at SF by standing too much on the perimeter as a shooter instead of the back to the basket and drive/kick on slower PFs.
It's something to think about.
Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 12:28 am
by lojowo
ShowtimeFan wrote:Just to see how Bynum and Gasol will do together, what say the Lakers and Celtics get together for the Championship NEXT season as well?
I did not know that, thanks for the clarification.

Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 12:30 am
by lojowo
Polvoron wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Gasol got injured and missed 10 games around mid March in which the Lakers went 5-5.
Quoted wrong statement.
Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 3:31 am
by ShowtimeFan
DorfonCeltics wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Sounds good to me. How about we take the championship this year and we'll give you a shot at it next year? Deal?
wait a minute, how bout we let you win this year and then we do another Three-Peat?
I am serious when I say, the Lakers and Celtics "should" both have a nice three or four year run.., (at being in the Finals)..
Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 3:41 am
by ShowtimeFan
celticfan42487 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Do you think it will work like it has now?
Bynumn Gasol Odom front court
Will be much diffrent then a Gasol,Odom,Radman front court
perhaps the Gasol/Odom tandeum is picture perfect for the triangle with both being extremely talented for their positions. And perhaps Odom gets under used at SF by standing too much on the perimeter as a shooter instead of the back to the basket and drive/kick on slower PFs.
It's something to think about.
Well, it is very intriging to say the least, having a front-line of 7.0. 7.1 and 6.10 should be pretty awesome, Gasol was a PF for most of his career, so sliding back there shouldn't be a problem and same thing for Odom, he only recently slid up to PF, moving him back to SF should be fine, with Kobe at SG, our PG position becomes the weakest and I say that even though Fisher posted his best points, percentages and assists of his career.
And with that line-up, in the triangle, Bynum "might" be able to post Shaq-like numbers, just watch what happens next year...
Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 3:52 am
by snaquille oatmeal
other things that make a difference now that people are not talking about are the craptacular contributions that Kwame Brown made back then and the fact that Bynum was playing only about 25 minutes per game.
Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 12:09 pm
by davidse
all you really need to know is that the cavs beat the spurs on both meetings in last year's regular season...
the lakers are a much better team with gasol, and imo much better equipt to play boston with a healthy ariza too.
i still don't see the lakers as favorites like a lot of the experts seem to, but those regular season meetings mean very little.
and about the bynum/gasol/odom trio - i (and alot of other laker fans) agree that it's not a good mix.
but because you simply can't trade a 20 year old rapidly improving huge beast like bynum, i expect the lakers to shop odom for a natural small forward with a dependable 3 point shot - which would make the entire starting line up click perfectly.
in fact, it was rumored that the lakers offerred odom to memphis for m. miller and got rejected - about the same time as the gasol trade...
but hey, let us handle that "problem", and concetrate on your last chance of winning an nba title before drew comes back next year and the lakers have what should be one of the best teams in history...

Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 1:47 pm
by Gomes3PC
Odom only has 1 year left on his deal anyways, right? I could see him getting traded for a guy like Mike Miller or something. Memphis gets cap relief & a talented PF and the Lakers get a versatile 3 point shooting SF who Kobe has worked with through Team USA.
Posted: Tue Jun 3, 2008 2:29 pm
by LongTimeFan
I think LA is far tougher with Bynum than Gasol.
http://www.82games.com/0708/0708LAL.HTM
If you look at how the two played, it is clear they both add a lot to the team's differential. At center they both played at about a +10 PER. Gasol did it overwhelmingly on offense. Bynum did it on defense too.
In the playoffs defense counts more than offense. Bynum would have closed the center of the court to Pierce, Rondo and Allen's drives. He's a force multiplier. The Lakers have loads of offense with or without either of these two. Only Bynum brings any defensive power.
I think defense with quite a bit of offense is much tougher than lots of offense and little defense, especially in a playoff situation. At playoff time Bill Russel is the ideal at center and Russel is defense. Perk is actually closer to the ideal than Gasol.