Who starts?

[joe.linnen]

Bynum is going to be out at the beginning of the season, so does Odom or Ratliff start? I would want Ratliff to start and still bring Odom off the bench. I want to see what Ratliff can do and I want Odom, Barnes and Blake to take control of the bench.

SF:Artest/Barnes/Ebanks
PF:Gasol/Odom/Caracter
C:Ratliff
SG:Bryant/Brown/Vujacic
PG:Fisher/Blake


IR:
Bynum
Walton

[shaankle]

I agree with you, but I don't think they are going to do that.

First off, Phil knows we can win with Odom starting. He doesn't know that with Theo. Second, Phil will want to limit Theo's minutes anyway because of his age, so starting him wouldn't make sense.

Still, I'd like our team to get used to the way it's eventually going to be: Odom off the bench, two C's down low.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Phil said LO will most likley start in an interview...which is a no brainer to me

LO as a starter is more focused and more beastly..He's had great numbers with drew out and agains weaker regular season teams our offense will even be more effective than with drew in. Ratliff will get his minutes of the bench, and hopefully D.C could atleast give a Josh Powell like performance. We should be fine.

[SniperHawk10]

timeline status on bynum?

[saul silver]

Since the Gasol/Odom/Artest frontline played all of the final 19 minutes of game 7 and won the championship, I'm guessing that's Jackson's #1 choice.

[joe.linnen]

I agree with you, but I don't think they are going to do that.

First off, Phil knows we can win with Odom starting. He doesn't know that with Theo. Second, Phil will want to limit Theo's minutes anyway because of his age, so starting him wouldn't make sense.

Still, I'd like our team to get used to the way it's eventually going to be: Odom off the bench, two C's down low.

I like the way that Odom and Gasol plays, but I wasn't thinking about giving Ratliff starter minutes. I just wanted him to start and then bring Odom in, but I also forgot about Caracter and Ebanks too so this should be a good season.

SF:Artest/Barnes/Ebanks
PF:Odom/Caracter
C:Gasol/Ratliff
SG:Bryant/Brown or Vujacic
PG:Fisher/Blake

[joe.linnen]

Since the Gasol/Odom/Artest frontline played all of the final 19 minutes of game 7 and won the championship, I'm guessing that's Jackson's #1 choice.

I'm incline to agree, this was a dumb question on my part why not go with something that has been proven.

[laduane1]

LO starts

[TruSkool]

fisher
kobe
artest
odom
gasol


id like to see a whole lotta theo,blake, and barnes in the first few games though


blake
barnes
kobe
gasol
ratliff

id love to see stretches of this unit

[That Nicka]

Odom will start, as he always does when either Bynum or Gasol are out.

[LA Forever]

To start the season:
C- Gasol/Ratliff
PF- Odom/Caracter
SF- Artest/Barnes/Ebanks
SG- Bryant/Brown/Vujacic
PG- Fisher/Blake

When Bynum comes back:
C- Bynum/Ratliff
PF- Gasol/Odom/Caracter
SF- Artest/Barnes/Ebanks
SG- Bryant/Brown/Vujacic
PG- Fisher/Blake

[Desiderium]

timeline status on bynum?

expected back end of november. knowing bynum it will be end of december.

[Gek]

To start the season:
C- Gasol/Ratliff
PF- Odom/Caracter
SF- Artest/Barnes/Ebanks
SG- Bryant/Brown/Vujacic
PG- Fisher/Blake

When Bynum comes back:
C- Bynum/Ratliff
PF- Gasol/Odom/Caracter
SF- Artest/Barnes/Ebanks
SG- Bryant/Brown/Vujacic
PG- Fisher/Blake

^^^This, maybe with Blake/Fisher flip-flopping occasionally.


If Caracter plays well and/or if Ratliff doesn't, I could see LO being experimented with at center.

[crazyeights]

timeline status on bynum?

expected back end of november. knowing bynum it will be end of december.

That's when Bynum said in a media day interview when he thinks he'd be back. Whereas when PJ heard that estimate he thought it was a little too conservative.

I know I've said this before, but I think people still haven't watched the Mitch interview (with Norm and some douchey guy from NBA TV). The reason he's going to be out so long is not that he's a slow healer, it's that the surgery was different than they anticipated. Instead the doctor decided to repair the torn meniscus rather than taking it out...thus it takes longer to heal.

But that's better for Bynum's future career and life.