Are the Lakers going back to the Finals?

[Bgil]

the Spurs more closely it's not like they just gained any type of new, significant advantage IMO.

LOL. In previous years they've been letting Timmy roam and sag on D because Kwame wasn't going to do much on O. Can't say the same about Gasol.

Who guards Odom now? He roasts Duncan on D by driving right around him but now they're gonna put Manu on him. He's gonna grab every fricken rebound now.
Pop's defensive plan against us has been to double team Odom in the post and have Manu flop at every opportunity. I don't think that's gonna work now that we have Fisher (who has murdered the Spurs PLENTY of times) Bynum, and Gasol.

Oh yeah, who guards Bynum? Oberto? That'll be fun.

Gasol takes enormous pressure off of Odom, and Bynum because you have to cover him with your best post guy on D and you can't double team him because everyone else will either light you up or dominate the boards.

Gasol and Bynum are helpless in trying to slow Duncan

Bynum does a solid job and Turiaf does a really good job. He gave Duncan hell the last time we played and is quickly turning into a fantastic defender.
I still think the Spurs probably beat us in 6-7 due to superior coaching... assuming they get back to championship form and stop playing like crap.

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Gasol should take to the triangle easily. center/pf is the easiest position in the system and if Ariza can pick it up at SF in a couple weeks then Gasol should have no problem.

[garcia3]

I completely agree with the "Big 2" comments. Bynum is like the Center version of Rajon Rondo. A super freakish athlete at his position but not quite polished and not at all consistent (I've seen Kendrick Perkins lock him up and throw away the key TWICE).

hahahahha what a stupid post!! Come on, ok, Bynum's still a bit raw, but to say he isn't AT ALL CONSISTENT is just plain STUPID. You can look up the stats if you want to, but after Kwame went down with the injury and he got the starting role you could count on Bynum to have at least a 14/10 night every single game. I mean, one of the reasons us Laker fans were so high on him this season was because of his consistensy, so please, don't come here with that crap

[Nashty]

No, gasol is overrated and kobe won't pass to him anyways. Lakers are pretenders, nothing more. People overreacting way too much over the trade.

[kno]

No, gasol is overrated and kobe won't pass to him anyways. Lakers are pretenders, nothing more. People overreacting way too much over the trade.

Hey, youre back.

[TheCardinal20]

Not going to happen this year, as there isn't close to enough time for them to gel, next year is a different story...

[magicfan4life05]

wheres this speculation about bynum being out the rest of the season coming from? first time ive heard of it, i cant wait to see him back and hope for the best...

[Veez]

man..some of you posters need to stop posting..all its doing is showing your true intelligence..which in your case is not benficial to you..comparing finley to odom..wtf is the matter with you..."odom is not a big 4 type" yea yea..let me go ahead and break this down for you using arithmetic:
when kobe and odom were together..odom was a 2nd option..so it was the BIG 2..then came bynum's emergence...which took pressure off of Odom..which made it the BIG 3..get ready for it now...THEN came Gasol..and hes already an established baller in this league..which..with Kobe AND Bynum AND odom..makes it the BIG 4...comprende?? you got that? wasnt that hard was it

[Taiwan Killa]

I think the only team that can really matchup with the Lakers now are the Mavs believe it or not.

The Lakers had the Suns on the verge of elimination with Luke, Smush, and Kwame as starters, sure the Suns didn't have Amare or a better Barbosa but the Lakers didn't have Bynum, Gasol, Fisher, Farmar, Ariza, a better Sasha, and Radmonovic.

The Spurs can no longer sag of Kwame, instead they'll have to legitametly guard Gasol. Not to mention 6' 10'' Odom will be single covered by 6' 6'' Manu, and Kobe will have enough energy now to play defense on Manu. And Bynum, Turiaf, and Gasol on Duncan is about as good as you're gonna get besides probably Sheed and Mcdyess on Duncan. It's not like anyone on the Suns or Mavs are legit post defenders yet people say they have a chance against the Spurs yet the Lakers don't.

Back to my point though, the Mavs IMO have the best chance of beating the Lakers. They're just as deep and have just as many scoring options. Kobe and Eddie Jones is a good matchup, Dirk and Gasol, Diop and Bynum, Odom and Howard, Harris and Fisher, and both teams have deep benches.

[ImmortalD24]

The Lakers are officially the best team in the league, and 2nd place isn't even close.

[Alex_De_Large]

Amare can't stop gasol and bynum, there is no way he can, if he can't defend al jefferson..... enough said.

[kno]

I think the only team that can really matchup with the Lakers now are the Mavs believe it or not.

Boston is still pretty scary.

I mean, Perkins dominated Bynum this season.

[humblebum]

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Boston is still pretty scary.

I mean, Perkins dominated Bynum this season.

The funny thing is that Perkins has rendered Bynum completely ineffective on two separate occasions. Perkins is an underrated role player. He's got good size for a center, good length, he understands team defense and has solid man-on-man defensive positioning, forcing players off the block and challenging shots as they leave the player's hand. Bynum is one of those guys who will have a tough time scoring over Perkins... it's just a pretty even matchup. So that's what I meant about consistency. If he can't get the job done against a solid role playing center like Perkins then that's not the type of "consistency" that really matters in terms of winning championships. Color me unimpressed.

My best guess at how to defend the Lakers considering their going to have a stellar offense? Your going to have to use some zone while obviously giving Kobe the lion's share of your defensive attention. Your also going to need two capable low post defenders (Perk and KG for Boston, Sheed and Dyess for Detroit, Duncan and Oberto for SA).

No one's saying the Lakers aren't one of the best teams but it's certainly not clear that they're better than the Spurs, Celtics, or the Pistons.

[humblebum]

I'd also add that Boston has shown that they were clearly, clearly better in a heads up matchup before this deal. Do you want to disagree with that? This deal will definitely close the gap but I don't see where they have any type of significant advantage against Boston, San Antonio or Detroit. They're now completely in the discussion for top team in the NBA but any of these teams can win the Championship if things fall right for them.

[kno]

If he can't get the job done against a solid role playing center like Perkins then that's not the type of "consistency" that really matters in terms of winning championships. Color me unimpressed.

Nah, I dont think not being able ti produce against one player should consider you inconsistent.

He's virtually dominated every other big manb he's faced. Not being abe to dominate one C shouldnt crown him the inconsistent title.

[Phil Jackson]

They were going back to the Finals before they got Gasol.

[humblebum]

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Nah, I dont think not being able ti produce against one player should consider you inconsistent.

He's virtually dominated every other big manb he's faced. Not being abe to dominate one C shouldnt crown him the inconsistent title.

How's he done against Duncan or Rasheed Wallace?

All I'm saying is that he looked completely unimpressive against Perkins, which isn't really surprising to Celtics fans but most fans around the NBA would be surprised. Perkins is the type of defensive C that Bynum is going to have to succeed against if the Lakers are to be a true championship contender. To me he seems like a solid C who benefits from the increased attention that goes towards Kobe. He doesn't have a great knack for scoring the rock and he's a below average defender. He's got lots of upside, sure, but is he good enough right now to excel against the top defenses, and top interior defenders? As far as his performances against the Celtics, the answer would have to be a resounding no. Shoot, he didn't really have ANY impact in either of those games. Big time players don't disappear like that in big games.

(The Lakers played both games like it was the Championship... so NO EXCUSES)

[Phil Jackson]

I think the Lakers have a chance for sure.

But where is this "Big 4" coming from? Gasol and Bryant, that's two I'm willing to accept. Bynum is good but not even a star yet, not at all some one who I would consider part of the Big 4. And Odom is just crap, seriously only a week ago Laker fans were complaining about how crap he was with names like "Odumb" flying around.

Now, don't take this as me hating. On Dallas we pretty much have a big 1 or maybe a big 2, so this ain't me hating, just saying that the "Big 4" is kinda ridiculous.

Kobe Bryant counts for 2.5, Gasol counts for 1 and Odom and Bynum count for 0.25.

[Triangle Theory]

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How's he done against Duncan or Rasheed Wallace?

All I'm saying is that he looked completely unimpressive against Perkins, which isn't really surprising to Celtics fans but most fans around the NBA would be surprised. Perkins is the type of defensive C that Bynum is going to have to succeed against if the Lakers are to be a true championship contender. To me he seems like a solid C who benefits from the increased attention that goes towards Kobe. He doesn't have a great knack for scoring the rock and he's a below average defender. He's got lots of upside, sure, but is he good enough right now to excel against the top defenses, and top interior defenders? As far as his performances against the Celtics, the answer would have to be a resounding no. Shoot, he didn't really have ANY impact in either of those games. Big time players don't disappear like that in big games.

(The Lakers played both games like it was the Championship... so NO EXCUSES)

Whats funny is that Bynum is so young, and everyone wants to write him off when talking about a Laker Champ this year. Because he struggled against perkins? Okay? Every player in their prime has struggles, let alone a 21 year old who is currently injured. lol. Lakers to the finals.

[B-Scott]

Mitch should get GM of the last 3 years for building this team

Gasol, Farmar, Bynum, Turiaf, Sasha, Ariza

He's responisble for all of these players

[celticfan42487]

so Kobe wants to be traded right?