Pau Gasol: Sharpshooter?

Evidently, Pau shoots three pointers against Vujacic at the end of shoot arounds. And shoots them well.

Does this have any place in the Laker offense?

Probably not, considering that Vujacic is getting healthier, Radmonovic is playing well, and Ariza has developed a solid shot. But if one or two of them go down, I would not mind seeing some experimentatcion con Gasol. He's 17 for 75 from beyond the arc in his career, with all his makes for Memphis. Considering that at least 25% of these shots were probably "shot clock winding down" desperation heaves, his accuracy isn't that bad.

Unfortunately, having Gasol shoot any threes shows up the opponent while removing an effective low-post player from his kill zone. It would be a lot of fun to have Pau come out to the wing, receive a Kobe line drive pass from the paint, and knock down a trey. But "toy" and "fun" are the operative words. It's not something this championship contender needs.

And that says a lot about the Lakers. They have a power forward who can shoot the long ball but likely never will. Fans might start fantasizing early and often about this team, as analyzing a squad with so few problems gets boring towards February. Four games loom, however, and this is an excellent time to stay realistic.

Happy November - Lakers Win

A few notes on the Laker victory in Denver on Saturday night:

1. The first half was generally a disaster for Los Angeles. They started the game with their worst four minutes of basketball in the young season.
2. By the middle of the second quarter, five players had three fouls, including Bynum, Bryant, and Odom. The Nuggets were moving the ball crisply, and simply out performing a hustling Laker defense.
   
3. Bynum took one shot during the first 24 minutes.
4. Though the Lakers put themselves at an extreme disadvantage by fouling so frequently (and often in meaningless situations), the quality of their roster made it difficult for a weak post team like Denver to take serious advantage.
5. In the second half, the Lakers were a different team entirely, as they kept Denver on the perimeter and stopped fouling. It was quite remarkable how much less the officials had to do after the break as the Lakers committed only 12 fouls.

On a night where Anthony Carter was clearly the best player on the Nuggets, their opponents stole the game. This should not be a surprise at all, but credit must go to Phil and the coaching staff. The Lakers eliminated Denver's post offense and drives to the basket while NOT fouling in the second half. In other words, Saturday night's game was a textbook example of mid-game adjustments. The coaches and players examined the problems and corrected them, leading to victory.

Andrew Bynum Extended

Yesterday, the Lakers invested a large amount of money in their future competitiveness by signing Andrew Bynum to a four year extension. At $58 million, this extension will cost the Lakers in that they won't be able to carry four small forwards with decent contracts indefinitely. Damn, I thought we had the makings of a Walton/Vlad Rad dynasty!

Bynum's role on a Laker team with Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant is simply being what Lamar Odom wasn't last year: a consistent third scoring option in the starting five. Of course, he'll hit the boards hard also (something Odom did quite well, it must be said).

When Pau departs (I rue the day), Bynum will then became Kobe's partner in a reverse of the beginning decade dynasty. Congrats to Andrew, but I hope he remembers that this is a reason to relax and play the game intelligently with long-term goals in mind, not a reason to "prove" himself. That's why Phil Jackson gets paid, I suppose.

Let the calls of sixty begin...

After victories on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Lakers look extremely good. A five year-old with decent math skills could tell you that. That's about the mental thought that will go into pundits' predictions of the Lakers' victory total. God save us if they start 15-1. I don't think I could take an endless parade of national journalists blabbing about 72-10.

"The LA Lakers have every reason to believe that they can repeat this magical season."
"No one will touch the ChiTown Bulls. Never."

For my part, I'm calling the Lakers winning a solid sixty games. The fact is, they could win more. Someone, however, will get injured. No team is this fortunate.

Catalunya and near defeat

Lakers 108 - Barcelona 104

I remember shooting hoops in a park in Barcelona. There was a ridiculous cement circle with huge pylons sticking out of it, probably an artistic reminent of the Olympics. It could have been a huge area to play basketball, but this hoop was outside the circle, facing away from it, and rested on dirt. So, I shot on slippery earth with a less than fully inflated ball. I hoped that someone would come by and play, but the most competition I found was the two year old who stole my keys. Yelling, "Mejo! Mejo!" ( I don't speak Spanish) at the top of my lungs chasing after this kid was humbling. What did the locals think I wanted with him? Me, the sweaty Americano with a lopsided ball and the ugliest cross trainers ever conceived (10 Euros).

Anyway, on this hoop was the "FC Barca" seal. A basketball hoop sponsored by a soccer team. Though I later learned that the basketball squad and famous soccer team are owned by the same group, I remember being stunned at how soccer mad this supposedly basketball mad country was. Despite the basketball team's own success, they are still identified with the soccer club due to their identical uniforms.

Well, Catalonians might want to praise their hoops squad more than their under performing soccer team. The fact that these guys almost beat the Lakers in LA is ridiculous, preseason or not.

Walton is "no go" at the four spot

In a move that gives you confidence in Phil Jackson's sanity, the LA coach stated that he would not have Luke Walton play power forward in the foreseeable future. As a Laker fan who enjoys a bit of solid defense here and there, this came as a great relief.

Kobe: Luke, ol' buddy, don't come back too quickly from that ankle boo-boo. (We don't need you)
Luke: But Kobe, I'm ready to get our turnovers up to thirty a game!

Walton is coming back from ankle surgery and has practiced well, according to Jackson. Due to the four small forwards situation, Walton would be more likely to play out-of-position at shooting guard rather than power forward. Though neither spot looks promising, Walton doesn't either. He'll have to earn his way into the rotation through solid defense and versatile play. We'll see if he has it in him.

Lakers vs. Kings - 94-89

Check out the box score for a taste of how the Lakers will look in the regular season. Radmonovic gets the starting nod here and plays twenty minutes. Maybe Phil sees more potential in having Odom and Ariza play together? More on that later.

To Stalk or Not to Stalk

Luke Walton's stalker was arrested today.

I didn't know Luke Walton had a stalker. The women I've watched games with aren't particularly impressed with him, should memory serve. But of course, this gal is a special breed. Maybe she's persistent and vicious, causing the Lakers to trade Walton for any player in the league with a lower salary who also isn't a small forward. That would be fortuitous in that the Lakers would unload a player they don't need and lessen the average NBA fan's exposure to meaningless Chinese character tattoos. But Bill Walton would still have a job. Crap.

Preseason opener

The evaluation and planning process gets a kick start today as the Lakers actually have an inter-squad matchup against the Jazz, otherwise known as a "game." It means only slightly more than nothing, but here's the box score to wet appetites.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=281007013

The Glut at the Three

A quick study of the Lakers' roster reveals an imbalance so glaring that the casual fan might say, "What's the deal with all the small forwards?" The more avid NBA fan might remark, "Four small forwards when your starting shooting guard can play there when needed? That's a bit much." The Laker fan doesn't say anything, because he/she knows how much this overpacking is costing the team.

Literally, these guys are just killing the salary space. Walton's scary contract is almost criminal and, as a result, he's not going anywhere unless the front office wants to be embarrassed further. Radmonovic makes a large sum for terrible defense and decent shooting. Lamar Odom is possibly the most over compensated player in the game. He's not bad by any means, but how he got superstar dollars without ever showing superstar potential is beyond me. Ariza is the only logically paid player amongst them.

What are the options here?

Phil is practicing Odom with the second unit. Not a terrible idea, as he adds offensive punch and experience to a young five. Most importantly, he can rebound the ball when assigned the task. Playing with Farmar, Vujacic, Mihm, and Powell won't bring out the best in Lamar, but the team should be good enough to have room for experimentation. Walton and Odom might have more chemistry together offensively, so Phil will probably use matchups to determine the second unit this year. Opponent goes small, bring in Walton. They go big, stick with Powell.

What I'm interested to see is how Odom and Phil deal with the fact that Lamar is used to playing about forty minutes a game. If he continues at this pace, he'll inevitably play a number of minutes with the starters. Once again, it looks like Phil will have to work with the matchups.

Playing Odom with the second unit while, more or less, maintaining his minutes makes quite a bit of sense. In this manner, Phil will see how Odom works with both lineups. It is certainly a worthwhile effort, as Odom has the potential to solidify the best starting lineup since 2004 or be a sixth man of the year threat.

This doesn't change the principle issue: what to do at the small forward position?

Ariza and Odom should get most of the PT, on this almost everyone agrees. But give Walton a chance to play with the starters if Ariza gets into foul trouble. We saw what Radmanovic could do last year (not much), let's find out what Walton has (when he's healthy). This is the luxury of having four small forwards: you can always just put in someone else.