Must Be Nice to Be a Lakers Fan

[landho]

Originally Posted by drizzt3117

Well, the thing is, if they had KG for the entire year this year, they would probably have a pretty good chance to win a championship, which would probably mean Kobe would be extending... it's the win now vs win later theory, but IMO, with Garnett they'd still have a 3-5 year run in which they would be in the top 3 in the NBA at worst, IMO. I'm of the opinion that Odom is trash, btw. He's league average at best, IMO.

I wonder how good KG will be in his mid-30s.... I'm guessing pretty good, especially if his minutes are limited.

I'm a big Odom fan, though, and have been since he was in high school. (IIRC, the big three of his graduating class were him, Tracy McGrady, and Tim Thomas, and my mind was being blown at the "new breed" of player who was soon to be invading the NBA.) Odom is very versatile--a great ball handler for his height and an excellent passer, and like KG he doesn't need to have the ball in his hands. If anyone remembers, two years ago (when the Lakers blew a 3-1 lead vs. the Suns in the playoffs), Odom totally outplayed Shawn Marion, being physical with him and dominating him down low. He's got a bit of a bad rep bc of his past transgressions and the fact that he's never really won, but I think having him as a third or fourth option and having him play his more-natural SF position will be really, really impressive. I think he will do really good things now, in a more natural triangle.

 

[drizzt3117]

All I can say is that we did the "would you rather have X" game and picked 15-20 players that would be better than Odom for the Lakers, many of whom make less money than he does. Being outside of the top 15-20 players at your position is the definition of league average, IMO.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by landho

I wonder how good KG will be in his mid-30s.... I'm guessing pretty good, especially if his minutes are limited.

I'm a big Odom fan, though, and have been since he was in high school. (IIRC, the big three of his graduating class were him, Tracy McGrady, and Tim Thomas, and my mind was being blown at the "new breed" of player who was soon to be invading the NBA.) Odom is very versatile--a great ball handler for his height and an excellent passer, and like KG he doesn't need to have the ball in his hands. If anyone remembers, two years ago (when the Lakers blew a 3-1 lead vs. the Suns in the playoffs), Odom totally outplayed Shawn Marion, being physical with him and dominating him down low. He's got a bit of a bad rep bc of his past transgressions and the fact that he's never really won, but I think having him as a third or fourth option and having him play his more-natural SF position will be really, really impressive. I think he will do really good things now, in a more natural triangle.

Well, you've just nailed what makes Odom so frustrating. He's so talented and it's easy to articulate why, when he's totally on his game, he can be great. The problem is that he's always been kind of less than the sum of his parts. I don't know if it's a lack of "killer instinct", or if he needs to sit in on some of Kaman's therapy sessions and learn how to focus, or what, but he just doesn't bring his A game consistently the way guys you really want to go to war with do. At the end of the day, you're right that having him for, say, a fourth option is a real luxury, but having to rely on him to be more than that would be dicey.

 

[landho]

What did Kaman eat over the summer? I want some of that.

Will discuss more later. Now I have to buy shoes and orange juice before I root for Brady and Eli Manning to both suffer career-ending injuries.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by landho

What did Kaman eat over the summer? I want some of that.

.

My understanding is that he learned he had been misdiagnosed as a kid with ADHD, and that as a result the Ritalin or other medication was not helping or perhaps was compounding the problem. In non-clinical terminology paraphrased from one or two half-read L.A. Times articles, his problem was that he would "think too fast". The idea, I think, is that he'd get all caught up thinking five or steps down the road and lose focus on what he was supposed to be doing in the moment (switching on D, say). He's reportedly been some kind of therapy/training to help him "slow down" his thought process and maintain focus.

Evidently it works.

 

[Mute]

About damn time Lakers managment did something right. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[landho]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

My understanding is that he learned he had been misdiagnosed as a kid with ADHD, and that as a result the Ritalin or other medication was not helping or perhaps was compounding the problem. In non-clinical terminology paraphrased from one or two half-read L.A. Times articles, his problem was that he would "think too fast". The idea, I think, is that he'd get all caught up thinking five or steps down the road and lose focus on what he was supposed to be doing in the moment (switching on D, say). He's reportedly been some kind of therapy/training to help him "slow down" his thought process and maintain focus.

Evidently it works.

Yeah, I read about that. I also thought that with Brand's injury, Kaman would step up and take over, although his performance this year has really exceeded my expectations. He's been insane.

Did anyone read the series of articles a few weeks ago about Dunleavy vs. Sterling? The Clippers are doing pretty terribly right now, and a lot of it I think falls on Sterling and Baylor (God bless him, former Laker). Sterling vetoed a trade of Maggette for Jason Terry, and Dunleavy tried to sign Beno Udrih in the off-season, only to get rejected by Andy Roeser, Clippers vice president of basketball operations. Baylor went on the record saying that it "made no difference" to him whether they signed Udrih or not--a sign of a good GM if there ever was one. Now the Clippers are left with Cassell, who's basically running on fumes, and Brevin Knight (!) at point guard.

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by Baron

Odom creates bad matchup problems for a lot of other small forwards. Guys like Marion and Carmelo have a hard time guarding him, and he's a great rebounder and passer. As long as you can live with the fact that he doesn't know when to take initiative and score (and he doesn't need to in this lineup) he's pretty good. He's not as good as his ridiculous contract though, but the Lakers are now going to be an elite team for the next 5 years as long as everyone stays healthy.
+1 to this, though I focus mainly on his passing and rebounding, and he's an OK shot blocker. He was a poor 2nd option in years two and three, but he's actually a very good 4th option in the triangle. He can score, but as a facilitator and someone who merely keeps the opposing defense honest, I like him a lot, regardless of his contract. I am in favor of Gasol-Bynum-Odom-Kobe over KG-Bynum-Kobe even though I love KG, strictly for age reasons. The Lakers will be a great team for 5 years considering they don't mind paying everybody through the rest of their contract (because they charge a buttload for tickets), whereas KG will eventually decline as great as he his now (which is pretty great) and the rest of them are in their theoretical primes. And Gasol-Odom gives them a lot more trade flexibility compared to KG when he's in the last few years of his deal. Gasol and Odom will be big expiring contracts and will still be very good players at that point.

 

[landho]

Originally Posted by Baron

Odom creates bad matchup problems for a lot of other small forwards. Guys like Marion and Carmelo have a hard time guarding him, and he's a great rebounder and passer. As long as you can live with the fact that he doesn't know when to take initiative and score (and he doesn't need to in this lineup) he's pretty good. He's not as good as his ridiculous contract though, but the Lakers are now going to be an elite team for the next 5 years as long as everyone stays healthy.

Originally Posted by Brian278

+1 to this, though I focus mainly on his passing and rebounding, and he's an OK shot blocker. He was a poor 2nd option in years two and three, but he's actually a very good 4th option in the triangle. He can score, but as a facilitator and someone who merely keeps the opposing defense honest, I like him a lot, regardless of his contract.

I am in favor of Gasol-Bynum-Odom-Kobe over KG-Bynum-Kobe even though I love KG, strictly for age reasons. The Lakers will be a great team for 5 years considering they don't mind paying everybody through the rest of their contract (because they charge a buttload for tickets), whereas KG will eventually decline as great as he his now (which is pretty great) and the rest of them are in their theoretical primes. And Gasol-Odom gives them a lot more trade flexibility compared to KG when he's in the last few years of his deal. Gasol and Odom will be big expiring contracts and will still be very good players at that point.

+1 to all these points, especially the ones about Odom creating matchup problems and Gasol's and Odom's age allowing the Lakers to compete at a high level for years to come and also giving them greater trade flexibility. Miami gave Shaq $100 million over five years (technically a pay cut, but...), and now look at them. Rumor has it that Riley is trying to shop O'Neal around, but even if he were able to contribute to a team (such as the Lakers before they traded for Bynum, for example), who's going to want to pay $20 million a year for a player who is best-suited to playing 15 to 20 minutes a night? I'm not saying that KG situation will be the same (as he evidently takes care of himself better than Shaq does), but aging stars at the end of their contracts present no end of headaches to the front office.

 

[thinman]

I'm amazed by the trade. I heard a news snippet about the Lakers getting Gasol and thought they must have given up Odom. I can't believe they could get Gasol for yesterday's leftovers. I agree it makes the Lakers competitive for years. Now they've got 2 solid options behind Kobe, all in the prime of their careers, plus a developing star in Bynum. Wow!