Win against Celtics creates Big dilemma for Phil Jackson

Obviously there are things to pick at, but overall it was a great game.

Bynum’s performance was nothing stellar, but certainly encouraging. He’s been much more active on the pick-and-roll ever since his ‘slump,’ and his post offense has always been sharp.

A couple more games like tonight, and I might start questioning which Laker 7-footer is the BEST low-post scorer. I doubt it though. Pau is pretty fantastic.

Andrews performance tonight was solid. He did not play outside of himself or lose his confidence. Solid. Yet Bynum is still the worst pick-and-roll defender of the three bigs, and by far the worst passer. Expect to see a lot of crunch-time Pau and LO in the future, with Bynum sprinkled in here and there based on his energy level, productivity, and of course, match-ups.

Bynum makes a lot of sense when dealing with Kendrick Perkins alone, but with Rasheed Wallace added to the mix? Those two, combined with Garnett and Davis, have the ability to eat an entire Dunkin Donut’s store. Not just the donuts, the entire store.

The Lakers needed physicality, and I was very pleased with how well Andrew played against their normally smothering post defense. And while Sheed is not the defender he once was, he’s still a lot to handle.

Lastly, I’m not fully convinced that having LO on the floor results in a less efficient offense. His passing can lead to “home-run plays,” as most teams do not prepare for alley-oop lobs from almost-7-footers (or 7-footers)

The defensive energy and mobility C.A. mentioned, also LEADS to offense, especially since, unlike Pau and Andrew, Lamar can close out deep 3-point shooters very quickly, leading to long rebounds and more Lake-show fast-breaks that LO so dearly loves.

Our dominant first quarter was mainly fueled by those missed Boston threes and some non-Rondo turnovers. When our offense starts to suck, it’s usually because it is stagnant, involving too much isolation. JVG noticed this after Shannon’s awful baseline jumper. Brown’s putback shut him up quick.

Thus, I still think those run outs are a key for our largely post-oriented team—the ability to play great transition offense AND great halfcourt offense in the same game makes us a dangerous team, and hard to completely shut down. Even against faster teams like Denver or Houston, our speed takes pressure off of the Lakers’ normal offense, and even if the Lakers are post team, they know how to run the break, and do so efficiently.

This helps explain why, though Odom can’t punish his man when guarded one-on-one, his (active!) presence on the floor always makes the Lakers a better team, whether it’s a grind-it-out playoff brawl, or a Golden State game.

So, I agree with Clark on his point that Odom will most likely keep his crunch time minutes, but as Pau will bounce back soon enough, we’ll have a to watch for during these next few weeks.

Regarding Abbott’s Truehoop post, he’s definitely trolling with regards to Pau being open. Pau must have been relieved that Kobe shot, and sunk, that fadeaway since, if the Lakers had lost this game, he would have received much of the blame. Plus, the shot was awesome.

Sadly, I’ve got to agree with him on one thing. Kobe’s banker, so far, has been #1.

Was ‘big dilemma’ intentional?

Pau definitely looked tired out there. He was reaching instead of moving his feet, his shots were falling short, and his decision making wasn’t as flawless as it usually is. All signs of fatigue. If Bynum can consistently play intelligent and intense basketball when it counts, not just in first quarters when he’s being spoon-fed at the rim, that would be a great dilemma for Phil to ponder. His passing out of the block still needs a shit-ton of work, though. Ron-Ron for Oscar consideration…those extra two steps after being swatted by a Pierce forearm were dramatic genius. Being known as a physical stopper, and not a flopper, gave him the perfect moment to pull a Vlade/DFish. He did a great job on Pierce all game, and I’m sure, right now, The Truth hurts…

I think because Perkins & Garnet are so physical that Bynum really made a difference. Pau had an off game and he has played better against them in the past. But Perk & KG & Sheed were trying to really rough-up Gasol yesterday.

Once Perkins went out KG couldn’t handle Drew.

While it was refreshing to see Fish come up with some timely 3’s, I still think he is too slow to keep up with the quicker pg’s in the league. Farmar really did a good job staying with Rondo, and his read and consequential layup off that long pass to the top of the key was brilliant. I really like the energy he brings to the team, on both ends of the court. I love Fish for all he’s done for the team before and after his stint with the Jazz, but I really think Phil needs to either start JF, or at least give Farmar and Brown more minutes.

Scoring well, rebounding, clogging the paint and even posterizing keven garnett. As soon as PJ put him on the bench in the second quarter, the Celtics were able to get into the paint and get easy score after easy score and turn our 13 point lead into an 11 point defecit. My guess is that Bynum’s plus / minus was way in the plus for this game.

IMHO, PJ should have put Bynum in earlier in the 2nd quarter to help stop the bleeding. Regardless, Bynum played like an allstar and the Lake show got the W.

I think we are overreacting to one game…

If we look at the course of the game itself, lets be honest, Pau was just AWFUL. He had a few flashy plays, but for the most part, he looked out muscled, and almost incoherent and clumsy whenever the ball went his way.

Meanwhile, Bynum put on full display his potential. Yesterday, Bynum vindicated Mitch Kupchak’s refusal to part with Bynum for Kidd, Bosh, and even the gigantic contract Bynum was awarded. Truly Bynum was in all-star form. And while we would love to sit here acting like Bynum is capable of doing that every game, the fact is he just plain doesn’t. I don’t know whether its just because of a lack of motivation, or the lack of KG talking sh*t to him up and down the court.

I really don’t think we have a dilemma yet. Gasol on most nights is gonna be the 2nd best player on the court. The guy just had a terrible game when we needed him most. Props to Phil for going with the adrenaline filled Bynum. And while I do not expect any major changes as a result of yesterdays game, I wouldn’t be suprised if Pau is no longer going to be an automatic in the 4th, the way fisher and bryant are. I would say the situation will be a much more stable version of the way we decide who plays more between Farmar and Brown, which is really decided on whose hot on any given night.

Pau has come back soft this time. Even softer than usual which leads me to believe that something is wrong with him. He is not the warrior that Kobe is and I think that something must be wrong with his legs still. His shots are short, which means it has something to do with his lower body or conditioning. Whatever it is, hopefully the rest after tonight’s game with remedy it. Gasol is just too damn important to us for him not to be fully functional. Yesterday’s game is just that, one game. Bynum stepped up, like he usually does in the first quarter. What people don’t understand is that adjustments are made during the game that means Bynum stops getting those “touches” that he continually talks about. When he becomes automatic, the Lakers may start feeding him more throughout the game, but right now we have three players who can score the ball almost at will. That Big Dilemma is something the rest of the league would love to have.

The Mathletics guy who does his own plus/minus.

He did a recap of how every team did on his ratings in January.

This made me laugh:

LA Lakers
Ron Artest (-1 Point rating) has not been the same player since suffering a concussion and dealing with foot issues. Sasha Vujacic (16 Points rating) has been great, Kobe (16 Points rating) has played great while battling injuries. Gasol (6 Points rating) and Odom (9 Points Rating) have been solid.

As Jerry West said yesterday don’t expect Pau to be physical that is not his importance to team it is all the other stuff that he brings. Scoring, passing, knowledge of the game and team player.

Gasol had his off moments last night so he ended up being a bench warmer towards the end, which is how it should be because Bynum played well and deserved those minutes, I don’t think the coaching staff is having too much hard time figuring out this formula for end of game situations.

Do you guys really think you can beat the Cav’s let alone the Celtics come finals time? The Lakers are a great, great team but your championship days are done and LeBron is about to go off, or even Boston’s “D” , You’ll be hardpressed to repeat.

It should be
1. Fisher maybe Farmar or Shannon Brown? Not sure about this position
2. Bryant
3. Odom
4. Gasol
5. Bynum