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Of Mihm and (three) men: The breakup of LA's frontcourt.
Posted by: SPQR on Oct 20, 2008 - 01:55 PM
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Got to watch the Lakers vs Toronto last night and have some thoughts on how things are developing at this very early stage of the year.
Like many Laker fans, I spent the off season salivating on the havoc and destruction the Lakers versatile huge front line of Gasol, Odom and Bynum would cause opposing teams this year. The first sign that this putative lineup would not be in place began when Phil toyed for a very brief moment with bringing Bynum off the bench. Somewhere along the line Jeanne Buss must have given Phil a good hard slap in the face or he brought him self out of this delirium on his own because he quickly abandoned that ridiculous idea. Bringing a player with the impact Bynum has on every game off the bench is like the Lakers bringing Kobe in off the bench or Houston bringing Ming off the bench. There is no upside to it, just a downside. He is just too valuable a player to be sitting on the bench.
Yet the idea of breaking up the big three was obviously on Phil’s mind. The questions then became why, and if not Bynum, then who? The who was answered fairly quickly: Phil next put his sights on Lamar as the starter to take out of the big three equation. The question of why remains more intriguing. Phil’s ostensibly stated reason was the he had doubts that Lamar could guard small forwards since Pau would now take the big forward position. He also said he wanted to experiment with Odom bringing the ball up. Yet I think he may have other reasons-not overtly stated- for messing with the front line.
This goes back to last years playoffs performance and his earlier, very brief toying with bringing Drew off the bench this year. Like most Laker fans, I think Phil was dismayed and alarmed by the play of the bench mob in the post season. Their production in the playoffs tailed off significantly till during the Finals against Boston they contributed virtually nothing. It was no small reason why Boston got their long awaited ring and we ended up also rans.
I think Phil realized that the bench needs a player who has physical talent a cut above what they had in order to make them a unit that can be effective against the NBA’s elite teams in the playoff crucible. Bringing Lamar off the bench gives them a passer, scorer and rebounder of high caliber who can really dominate an opponent’s second team and also make life so much easier for the other bench players because of the ability he brings and defensive attention he will garner.
The theory, on paper, looks good. What can go wrong with it? For one thing, it takes away one of our two best rebounders (Drew being the other) from the starting unit. If Vlad and Gasol can’t hit the boards with any consistency, we will have only Drew to clean up missed shots and this will cause problems. One of the most impressive things that happened in the last month before Drew got hurt was the way he and Lamar were cleaning up the boards. This tandem was unstoppable on the backboards. Because of this rebounding dominance I think that team played better ball than they did even when Gasol came to us and sparked our run to the finals. Having Drew and Lamar vacuuming up rebounds together like a double edged Hoover was a very good thing. Vlad and Gasol will have to make a strong contribution on the boards to make up for Lamar’s absence.
If Lamar decides he just doesn’t like playing off the bench and starts to do a major pout that effects his game then the experiment will run off the rails. The fact that Lamar’s personality has never been one of having to have glory and has always been deferential to players like Kobe, I suspect he will in the end accept and thrive in the new role, especially if he starts leading the bench mob to success.
If Vlad doesn’t hit the open shots he will be surely getting in the starting lineup, once again the move will prove a failure. If this happens, expect Trevor Ariza to move into the starting lineup fairly fast. If he fails to produce then the experiment is a failure.
If a combination of all the bad things listed above happens then one may even expect the Lakers to try move someone in a trade.
This brings up the fact that this tinkering with the front line may well be a fluid concept for a while till the Lakers find the right combination. In fact, during the course of the 82 game schedule the big three will undoubtedly find themselves in the game at the same time. If during these times, they show an affinity and effectiveness together that is just too good to ignore then we may well see Phil start to play them together again.
In a perfect world, Lamar will accept his new role, bring production to the bench and Pau and Vlad (or Trevor) will flourish in the starting lineup alongside Drew.
In the game last night, there were indications that Lamar will indeed have a positive effect on the bench. He and the bench mob keyed the victory run during the last quarter of the game. I think this is the exact result Phil was hoping for when he started thinking about moving Lamar to the bench.
One can’t but be impressed with how long and athletic this team is, nor how efficient and destructive they looked once they finally got it in gear.
The biggest news from last night’s game was the effectiveness of Chris Mihm. He was moving well, hitting the board and his shots. If this version of Mihm can play like that all year he will be a huge addition for this squad. Chris is not a great center, or even an excellent one, but when healthy and on his game, he is a good one, who can dominate at times, especially against another teams second string. Spelling Drew with Mihm when the other team brings in its reserve center will give the Lakers a huge edge. It also gives us another big, effective man to bring in along side Drew and Pau in certain situations.
In the West, the Lakers are obviously the heavy favorites. I would feel this way even if I was a fan of some other team. Houston, with the addition of Ron Artest may be their strongest challenger. Portland, depending on how fast Ogden and their other youngsters blossom, is the other team that sticks out in my mind. I think New Orleans is simply too small and doesn’t have enough size or firepower to deal with what we have. Same with Utah. The other old names: Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio don’t worry me in the slightest. They are yesterdays news and simply too old to deal with a young, big athletic Laker team that is coming off a finals trip.
Since I do think we will be going back to the championship (injuries not included) Boston looms in the back of my mind. They are an aging team but should have enough to go back as well.
Despite the fact the series went six games, anyone who thinks it was a close series is not being realistic. They played on every flaw we have and were never in danger of losing the title to us. What are the keys to getting over the Celtic hump this year?
Drew must become the player he was before the injury-then get even better. With the work ethic he has shown, his remarkable advancement from his rookie year and his enthusiasm for the game I don’t think this will be a problem.
Drew and Gasol have to play well together. In the Toronto game you could see them taking baby steps to what should in month be an unstoppable combination. They are already trying to play two man volley ball round the hoop and last night it worked sometimes, and other times not. This is simply a matter of timing and synergy. Both men are smart players and good passers. Very shortly down the road I see no reason why this combination won’t be treating us to highlights that will be on ESPN almost nightly as they develop their on court relationship at the expense of other teams in the league. Once they have this down to a science- watch out NBA.
Teveor Ariza. Watching this super fast, athletic big man you just have all kinds of thoughts of a young Scottie Pippen. If this guy can put it together he can be a stealing, defensive machine who can score and rebound too. He will play havoc with teams in so many ways. If he reaches his full potential he will become one of the most valuable Lakers on the 2008 squad.
Jordan Farmar. Perhaps the weakest link on the Laker team is at point. Derek is still a steady work horse but he can’t explode or dominate over long stretches. He is also not the defender he was in his prime. The point is along with center the most important position on a team. The lack of explosion and defense we have from this position hurt us last year against Boston. If Jordan can take his game up a level, as one would expect from him this year, then it will be a huge help. He will need to be able to score and set up the offense constantly and beat other point guards down. He will need to play better against the other elite point guards in the league than he did last year. His defense will have to improve as well. In last nights game he showed the explosion that this team needs so badly from the point position. The question is: can he do it consistently and against better teams than the Raptors?
Defensively, this team will have to be better all around in order to beat Boston. The addition of Ariza and Drew should go a long way to accomplishing this goal.
Some of my fellow fans may say the Finals area long way off, but I am a realist and barring injuries, we are the most talented and best team in the West and will be making a return visit. I think by that time, after watching this team for the whole 82 games and playoffs it will be fairly clear if a rematch with the Celts will produce a different result.
I haven’t looked forward to a season so much since the end of the 1984 season, when we last lost to the Celtics in the Finals. I knew we would get sweet payback the next year and so we did. I have a very strong feeling that this may be a repeat of that history. As JamFan says: LET THE GAMES BEGIN, INDEED.
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Re: Of mice and (three) men: The breakup of LA's frontcourt.
by Dave on Oct 21, 2008 - 02:29 PM
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Great blog SPQR and great to see you back!
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