I'm in love with Steve Blake

[semi-sentient]

Sounds like the one who is too emotionally attached is you. I never singled you out, I actually thought what you said was makes since to some degree except bringing Bynum off the bench it would probably make more sense to start Blake.

My apologies then. There's a lot of generalizations in this thread so I assumed I was on the "other" side and that was directed at me.

[Anklebreaker702]

Sounds like the one who is too emotionally attached is you. I never singled you out, I actually thought what you said makes since to some degree except bringing Bynum off the bench it would probably make more sense to start Blake.

My apologies then. There's a lot of generalizations in this thread so I assumed I was on the "other" side and that was directed at me.

Nah, but its cool. I like the back & forth too much to talk around anybody. I usually quote then we can see what's what. You weren't singled out because what you were saying made sense even though i didn't agree fully.

I just got to the point that i want Drew to stay healthy for at least 3 seasons in a row so we can start seeing his true worth & full potential. Where i give some posters credit is they use to ride him often then they began to see how important his worth was & started giving him his just due. While others keep talking about the same old stuff, so what's the point? Get back, STAY healthy & let's just see.

[Anklebreaker702]

i'm just going to say; odom/pau is an underrated defensive frontcourt.

Yep, just ask the '08 Celtics

[Emperor_Earth]

And here I was thinking Steve Blake was the topic of choice.

Original Post ----------------->
<--------------- Thread Direction

Yes. I love what Steve Blake brings to the team. Physically speaking at this point in their careers, Jordan and Steve are about the same. (Steve was an albino athletic point)

But Steve has much more of a veteran savvy and his agenda (ship or bust) is a lot more in line with the Laker's similar goals, rather than Farmar's (big contract or bust).

I do not fault Farmar for his thinking as he has his whole life to think about here, but for Lakers fans like myself, Steve is a big upgrade in that regard.

Pros:
Steve seems to have gotten a lot of chemistry with Lamar already
Steve is a boon in the locker room and doesn't fight with our coaches
Same tough mental attitude without idiocy
Shannon is much less a ballhog now that his primary point is actually passing him the rock
Luke is less necessary as a "force the ball to move" insert midgame and can now be used for his other skills (few and far between )
Better floor spread (better 3 pt shooter)
Less stupid turnovers. (TOs are usually because the receiver wasn't in the right spot or Blake didn't know offense, rather than Farmar's 1v3 mentality or contested 3pters)
2nd unit more resembles 1st unit, so mixing people in and out is easier, rather than running with two distinct groups
Not too much ego (He even lets Sasha bring the ball up the court when Sasha does the whole: I want to be point guard and runs up to point to ask for the ball before ball has passed halfcourt routine)

Cons:
We got older
Steve has less knowledge of the triangle, if only because of less experience
Jordan was actually rather clutch. Steve is rather unknown here
Plays slightly slower, so hurts Laker's flexibility a little bit

I approve this change:D

[desertlakerfan]

Side topic -
We won 76% of our games last season with Pau/Bynum starting. We only won 59% of our games when one of the two were missing.

We've won 2 Finals series against two of the best frontcourts in the league with Pau/Bynum starting, we lost 1 to one of the same frontcourts without Bynum.

Plus the main thing that I'm shocked so many in the "anti-Bynum" camp neglect to remember, Bynum played on one leg for us risking further injury and playing through immense pain to help us win a grueling 7 game Finals last year. No one in their right mind can say we'd of won without him doing that for the organization, he deserves a lot more respect than I see some fans giving him.

On topic -

Blake is amazing, and he'll likely take more and more of Fishers minutes as the season progresses. One thing I notice with him on the floor is he's always looking for the center on his drives into the paint. Unfortunately most of the time it's Ratliff who's catching those passes, but once we get our regular rotation in it'll be more of Gasol/Bynum which will make those plays look much better.

[stunnar0b]

Blake seems to be the perfect triangle point guard. when he was being interviewed by homeboi one of the things that stood out was giving the ball to a superstar and reading off of them. I'm sure Blake will do that on a consistent basis. great pick up

* good spot up shooter
* good passer
* good defender
* doesnt look for his own shot
* unselfish (maybe too unselfish at times)
* understands his role to the fullest

[Sedale Threatt]

That's the exact problem here, you guys only look at statistical offensive output. Point to where his defensive numbers are as a 5, pretty sad truthfully.

How so? We're only marginally better with Bynum in the middle. Which is the only reason I responded in the first place, to this notion that we're be some sort of train wreck defensively with Gasol. We wouldn't be, and we haven't been.

No it's not....when ever you play Pau and LO on the same front line you're going to suffer defensively period. Reason being LO isn't a great weak side defender in fact LO is pretty lame at the 4.

There is absolutely nothing that shows that statistically. Nothing. Which is why they're important -- they refute knee-jerk observations.

They don't tell the whole story, obviously, especially as it relates to the fact that both are finesse style players. That much is true.

But there is nothing that indicates that we're significantly worse with Gasol at the 5, or when Odom is in with him. Significantly being the key word.

I never said he was a savior defensively, but he's a hell of lot better than relying on Pau full time.

See above. You can flush the numbers down the toilet all you want, but there is absolutely nothing that indicates we go into the tank on defense with Gasol/Odom, at least not to the level you're talking about.

Something you guys can't seem to grasp, Pau just plainly lack the physical stature to man the 5 on a 82 game basis. Yeah he may have some nice games against smaller less physical teams, but I wouldn't want to depend on Pau against physical teams in a 7 game series.

This is a fair point that I can't necessarily argue against. Physicality is obviously his biggest weakness.

But I generally think we'd do fine if we had another capable big man to round out the position. Which is something "you guys" don't seem to grasp, either -- if in fact Andrew ever was moved, we'd be getting pieces in return, presumably a decent big to take his spot.

And this whole notion of bringing him off the bench -- while I agree that it's never going to happen, and probably shouldn't, it's not like it would be a punishment.

He'd still be getting significant minutes, and he'd still be a critical part of the team. There's also sound logic in the idea of trying to give him stretches where he's the focal point of the offense, instead of getting scraps behind Bryant and Gasol. That would be to his benefit.

Which is why I don't understand why "you guys" go ape isht when it's suggested. Those who suggest it aren't trying to minimize his role, but adjust it, so he can be better utilized.

And yes, I understand that defense is a factor. But again, it's not like he's so great, or Gasol's so bad.

At any rate, you can make an argument that he's already coming off the bench in a sense that Odom/Gasol is pretty clearly the go-to choice down the stretch, even when Andrew's healthy. As much as you brag about how knowledgeable you are, surely you've heard the old cliche about who finishes matters more than who starts.

Hell he's proven that he can't against the more physical teams in the playoffs. If he could then we have that 08 trophy in El Segundo right now.

A lot has happened since then. I would have hoped that what he did against Howard in 09, or Games 6 and 7 last season, would have earned him a little more respect than that. I guess not.

[Sedale Threatt]

he deserves a lot more respect than I see some fans giving him.

I feel the exact same way about Gasol, and have for a long time. I'm already counting down the minutes until the first "Gagina" reference of the season.

[Sedale Threatt]

And on Blake -- I'm glad we picked him up. Outside of Miller, which was never a real option, I'm not sure who else we could have gotten to help us more. He's going to be a pretty solid improvement over Fisher.

But I've also seen him enough over the years to know he's not going to bring even a B game every night. He's going to look really good at times, and pretty marginal at others. I suppose that's to be expected from your back-up point guard.

[crazyeights]

he deserves a lot more respect than I see some fans giving him.

I feel the exact same way about Gasol, and have for a long time. I'm already counting down the minutes until the first "Gagina" reference of the season.

So true. I don't get why when Pau plays center (out of position, hell he came into the league with the skill-set of a SF) he needs to be bashed by his own fan base. Gasol is a competitor, I don't think anyone can argue. No. He's not a banger, but the dude produces and bringing up 08' is like bringing up number 8 stuff...doesn't apply anymore.

Why it especially doesn't apply? Because AB has been healthy--uh, able to stand, the last two finals.

What makes this team special are our tandems. Gasol and Bynum. Together. Lamar and Pau. Lamar and Bynum. Oh yeah and Kobe and every guy on our team 1-13. Bottom line is we are versatile.

We won a lot of different ways last post season. We kept up with the young bucks in OKC, dominated the Jazz pick and roll, out ran the Suns, and banged with Boston. I don't know if we'll ever see something like that, but we played all styles, we played at all paces and we beat teams at their own game.

That's rare. Usually teams have to impose their style on a team to win. Why? Match-ups. Well what does it mean when a team can beat you at your own game, and in the styles of every other team? It means our talent is rare. Our team plays as a unit. And we can match up in unique ways.

Let's not divide the board with AB/Gasol. Power/finesse. I say let's just brand us all Lakers fans. Yeah we have vastly differing opinions about the same group of players.... but I guess that means we're a pretty versatile group of posters.

[NOODLESTYLE]

I was very glad and favored the Blake signing, but I'm waiting to see what Blake adds when the Lakers go up against teams with great PGs the Lakers usually struggle to defend against. How he and the 2nd unit blend together and are able to keep leads will be a huge factor and that will make the Lakers much more tough to beat. I also would like to see if and how Steve Blake handles crunch time situations.

[picc]

And on Blake -- I'm glad we picked him up. Outside of Miller, which was never a real option, I'm not sure who else we could have gotten to help us more. He's going to be a pretty solid improvement over Fisher.

But I've also seen him enough over the years to know he's not going to bring even a B game every night. He's going to look really good at times, and pretty marginal at others. I suppose that's to be expected from your back-up point guard.

He's never played with the kind of talent on this Lakers team, with the kind of guys to push him and help his game like Kobe and Pau.

[stunnar0b]

^ we all know what blake brings to the table its going to come down to consistency. i really dont want to see any 1 for 8 shooting slumps, even though they will come i just hope they dont come too often

[iamworthy]

Blake does two things. 1. He makes the team better because he is a major upgrade over Farmar and two, As the season goes on I think Phil will give him the majority of the minutes at PG to save Fish which means Fish will be fresh for the playoffs. Fish being fresh for the playoffs is huge because Fish shoots a true Jumpshot.

[DEEP3CL]

@SedaleThreatt

You make very valid points, bottom line this is always going to be an issue that divides this board like the North and South during the Civil War. At any rate you have some what of a point that we're not a total wreck with LO/Gasol, my stance is it's not as strong as a Gasol/ Drew 5/4 combo. All I'm saying is that you may cheat an LO/Pau line some games but definitely not against the physical minded front lines. Boston 08 is proven evidence that is irrefutable.

That said I respect the hell out of Pau, we wouldn't be where we are without him I get that. So I'm with crazyeights on not trying to divide the board, sad truth is unless we have some sort of round table discussion on the subject the lines remain drawn.

[stunnar0b]

We all know what bynum gasol and odom bring to the table and until the coaching staff changes the line-up. Us bynum supporters will be on the right side of that divided line

And to set the record striaght none of us believe he will be the next shaq or even come close but he gives us another dimension to the team that gasol will never provide

its really mind boggling to hear these anti bynum subjects when in reality every coach in the league says we're unmatched when we run the pau and bynum tandem.

i get that him being injured all the time is frustating but it is what it is and until his contract runs out, hes our starting center. POINT BLANK

[Pablo Escobar]

Without Drew against the Celtics this year we would of lost the finals

Without Pau we wouldn't have even gotten there.

Bynum is important for us because it allows us to have a very good 4/5 rotation and I don't think anyone is suggesting that we cut him from the playoff roster. Of course he helped us win against the Celtics. They are one of the few teams that almost requre us to play two 7-footers together (although times have changed), but against every other team we have more of an advantage with Pau/Odom.

Regarding the Celtics though, who's going to match-up with Shaq off the bench? Oh, Theo Ratliff. Lovely. I think I'd rather have Bynum on him and take my chances with Pau/Odom against Perkins/Old Ass KG.

Alright Mod lol I agree about Pau of course he's a major key to our success but without Bynum we would of been in the same situation as in 08 making Pau turn into a banger when that's not what he's comfortable doing

[joe.linnen]

most of you guys sound like a bunch of school girls on here, that isn't kewl at all. I feel like I;m back in the fifth grade when girls used to cry because somebody didn't like them

[crazyeights]

most of you guys sound like a bunch of school girls on here, that isn't kewl at all. I feel like I;m back in the fifth grade when girls used to cry because somebody didn't like them

Does that mean you don't like us?

[LeBronte Jest]

most of you guys sound like a bunch of school girls on here, that isn't kewl at all. I feel like I;m back in the fifth grade when girls used to cry because somebody didn't like them

Does that mean you don't like us?

Circle 'Yes' or 'No'