Lakers to explore starting Odom, not Bynum

[dockingsched]

http://www.ocregister.com/sports/odom-2 ... -salt.html

Lakers to explore starting Odom, not Bynum

SALT LAKE CITY – Even after Andrew Bynum gets healthy again, Lamar Odom might supplant him in the Lakers’ starting lineup going forward.

That, however, would be one risky shakeup for a team already on track to win it all.
Phil Jackson acknowledged late Wednesday night that his trusted assistants are already lobbying him to make the change to start Odom over Bynum – and he’s going to contemplate it when the Lakers reconvene after the All-Star break.

“My coaches are kind of pushing me in that direction, but I’m not ready yet to do that,” Jackson said. “We won last year with Andrew when he came back at the end of the season, going out there and playing the first quarter and starting the games. Even though he wasn’t 100 percent when came back off his injury last year, he still gave us a lot; he gives us a big front. So I have to measure that and see what’s going to happen with this team in the next couple weeks.”

[Magicontinues]

I don't see it as that big a deal. Odom off the bench makes more sense to me. Somebody posted yesterday our win percentage with the big three Odom, Bynum and Pau is awesome. Was it broke before Bynum went down? Seemed to be working

[frozt]

the Lakers are a lot better with Odom in the starting lineup aside Pau. I think this is a great idea.

[TommyTheCat]

imo, bad idea. bynum doesn't respond well when coming off the bench and the lakers like to feed him in the post early in the games..................too bad they don't feed the post more regularly. lastly, as we all know, it's not like a starter on phil's team is going to finish or play the most minutes. keep bynum in there at the beginning bu let odom play more with pau if needed

edit: and why is this coming up now when they are 41-13. seems like the tinkering should have already been done.

[Anklebreaker702]

See this is what I posted in the game thread last night. I called it! LO has never been happy with his role coming off the bench so he shows his a** whenever he starts. I'm OK with that, but if you are asked to be the spark off the bench then why cant we see this same effort?

Remember when Bynum went down last year? It was the same thing. Before he got hurt Phil kept saying he wanted LO to be the leader of the 2nd unit & he really never delivered. Soon as he starts though he freaking looks like Kobe & Magic rolled into 1.

If this is the move it is not a bad move but can Pau hold up at the 5? Also if this is the move then I put the same stipulations on Bynum. Come off the bench, be the leader of the 2nd unit & dominate. If that's what was asked of Lamar by Phil, if the switch is made, then he should ask the same of Drew.

if odom played like this every night we would have three losses right now.

+1. He seems to play like this when he starts, which probably suggests he doesn't like coming off the bench. Scottie Pippen had a great quote. he said "sometimes the hardest thing for players to accept is understanding their role" (from last nights game)

[DEEP3CL]

If that happens..................say goodbye to repeating.

[dockingsched]

i don't LO's level of play these last 3 games is indicative of his feelings about being a bench player. i truly don't think he cares if he starts or comes off the bench. last yr it was all about how it would affect his contract, that, imo, was the only concern he had.

[OMagic1989]

I would LOVE it if Bynum came off the bench!

[Sedale Threatt]

I would LOVE it if Bynum came off the bench!

Wasn't he coming off the bench when we beat you in the Finals?

[Sedale Threatt]

The tough part about this situation is that no matter who we start, somebody's going to get less minutes than they deserve. Unless Phil starts giving Odom some minutes at the 3, nothing is going to change that. All three of these guys should be getting at least 35 a night, with the requisite shots/touches, but there simply aren't enough to go around.

I'd still do this, though, because I don't think there's any question -- and I have yet to see even a mediocre argument otherwise -- that Gasol and Odom are our best tandem. We can thrive with any of the two we throw out there, because they're all talented, but that's our best group. Gasol and Bynum do not play off each other at all, and Odom doesn't seem nearly as tuned in with Andrew as he is with Pau.

Andrew can get all the shots he wants on that second unit. That's maybe a full quarter where he can shoot, or at least touch the ball, every single trip down court.

Plus, it's not like Pau would be playing ALL his minutes at the five. Andrew's still going to get at least 25, all in the middle. And how many teams any more have a load at center? Orlando. Boston. Cleveland. Probably forgetting a few more, but there aren't many. We should be able to make the proper adjustments.

Perhaps even more significantly, I just don't think the Bynum-Gasol tandem is all that good defensively. Both are decent one-on-one. But as help defenders, they lack the foot speed and instincts to be consistently good. At least Odom gives us a quicker, more active player who, no matter how much he's scoring, always gives great effort on the glass. The same can't be said about either Andrew or Pau.

In the end, it probably isn't that big a deal. It's a cliche to say that it doesn't matter who starts but who finishes the game, but there's a good degree of truth to it. It's just frustrating that we have these three quality players, and that there doesn't seem to be a situation where we can completely maximize their abilities. It's a great problem to have, but it's almost like too much of a good thing.

[Sedale Threatt]

He seems to play like this when he starts, which probably suggests he doesn't like coming off the bench. Scottie Pippen had a great quote. he said "sometimes the hardest thing for players to accept is understanding their role" (from last nights game)

Well, can't we make the same complaint of Andrew?

Not to turn this into another massive debate, but the inability to accept a role -- specifically one predicated around defense and rebounding, as mandated by his coaching staff -- has been one of his biggest criticisms.

And again, I'm not trying to turn this into a throw-down. If they do indeed start bringing Andrew off the bench, it shouldn't be seen as a demotion or a punishment. It's strictly circumstantial.

Let's just see how it works. The thing to keep in mind, we've never really had a healthy Andrew coming off the bench, at least not since he's made such significant improvements. He's always been rehabbing an injury. Who knows? If he can understand this isn't personal, he might actually thrive.

[The Skyhook]

I'm a big Bynum supporter but I think that Gasol/Odom starting makes us better defensively than Gasol/Bynum. I hope that these aren't signs of the Lakers starting to part ways with Bynum.

[Sedale Threatt]

It doesn't have to be like that. It's not like Andrew isn't getting the job done in a lot of ways. We've just got an excess of bigs who don't all mesh.

[Pablo Escobar]

It wont work Bynum is not going to play well off the bench, remember when he didn't make the allstar team he played bad and if you bring him off the bench he is going to have a bad attitude, he is 22 and has all the potential to be one of the best centers he is already one of the most fundamentally sound big men in the league him coming off the bench will stunt his development because his attitude will get in the way to accept the role

[Danny Darko]

anyone who thinks Odom should start has:

A-Fogotten how bad our bench is without his ball movement.
B-Forgotten how once Odom gets used to starting his level of player drops again.

This would be a huge mistake for anything more than a quick wake-up call to Drew before starting him again.

[Sedale Threatt]

http://www.82games.com/0910/0910LAL2.HTM

Something else to throw into the mix --

According to the advanced measures you can find through this link, the Gasol-Odom tandem is actually our THIRD best, behind Gasol-Bynum and Bynum-Odom. I take these measures with a grain of salt, but I have used them to push previous arguments, so it's only fair to bring this up when it appears standing pat could be the best option.

[Magicontinues]

I think this should have been kept in house, Phil sometimes blabbers too much, if there going to make a change, make it, talk to Bynum about it in house, then make the change, don't say "my staff wants me to" in public, leaving Andrew feeling stupid.

[Jajwanda]

Phil has that measured. There are two arguments against Bynum that have been well discussed here. Also in case anybody is wondering about a trade, I'm not sure they make a spare parts trade. They would probably want an all-star one of the 2010 guys. It's just not likely. I think they'll hold onto him to see if whatever team loses a max player in 2010 would rather lose that player in a S and T then lose them outright. If Bosh, Amare, Wade and the like are in the FA market I'd bet a bill one of them would be very interested in joining the Lakers and it might be the third one.

[Slava]

http://www.82games.com/0910/0910LAL2.HTM

Something else to throw into the mix --

According to the advanced measures you can find through this link, the Gasol-Odom tandem is actually our THIRD best, behind Gasol-Bynum and Bynum-Odom. I take these measures with a grain of salt, but I have used them to push previous arguments, so it's only fair to bring this up when it appears standing pat could be the best option.

Look at the minutes disparity there. Its 424.5 for Gasol/Bynum combo, 359.5 for Bynum/Odom combo vs 165.9 for Gasol/Odom combo. If anything it shows that GAsol and Odom haven't played together as much as they should have.

[Slava]

I'm just glad that there's a school of thought considering this in the Lakers staff and looks like the bandwagon worked.