Comments on: What’s the missing piece from the Lakers’ puzzle?

By: Lorens Frans

Lorens Frans — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:31:31 +0000

what the lakers need is toughness and heft inside
they didnt even have an answer to the once-retired pj brown inside
lakers got beaten with pj really, kurt thomas is another option
other players that i hop will land to hollyball is ron artest, caron butler, reggie evans, jeff foster, nick collison, or even ike diogu

By: Al Bowsprit

Al Bowsprit — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:30:45 +0000

I’m neither a Celtics fan nor a Lakers fan – but I am a long-time NBA fan, who followed the whole season and watched all the playoff games closely.

Having skimmed through all of these posts – mostly by Lakers fans – I think most of you are missing the boat. Yes, it will be better when you get Bynum back, although it’s still not 100% that he’ll grow into the super center that seems to be his promise. And yes, it might help to land Artest (assuming his character baggage doesn’t ruin it all). Yes, you would have been better off with Posey on your bench instead of on Boston’s. And yes, yes, it would be great to have Josh Smith – but 28 other teams also covet him – and he’s not available.

What you really need is a new coach! Blasphemy, I know. You need Tom Thibodeau or someone like him. OK, Phil can stay as head coach (although I don’t think you need him – he came up with nothing in the finals) but bring in a defensive coordinator and teach/force the team to play defense. Bringing in one defensive player (Artest) doesn’t do it. The whole team has to commit to defense and the Lakers are woefully deficient in that department. A healthy Spurs team next year will prove it to you by knocking you out again. The good news is: most talented players can learn to play defense (cf. Ray Allen, Kobe) even if they’ve never done it before.

I know it’s not “show time” but neither was the performance of the past two weeks.

By: T.12

T.12 — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:17:04 +0000

Ron Artest would be an unbelievable addition to the Lakers. Phil Jackson would demand excellence from Artest and he would get results! Artest is as tough as they come, he is old school, he plays hardnosed D and he is a better offensive weapon then he is given credit for. Artest also brings experience, this current Laker squad just got dismantled by the older, wiser, Celtics. Kobe and DFish cannot be the only battle hardened veterans on the squad. Possible Lakers starting five: Kobe, DFish, Artest, Gasol, Bynum. Smooth… Another possiblity: Kobe, Artest, Odom, Gasol, Bynum. Good Night!

By: rell

rell — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:27:16 +0000

I think the only way the Kings would trade Artest to the Lakers for Odom is if they take back the contract of Kenny Thomas or Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The number would add up to be just about right for the trade. I think the Laker would have a better chance to get Posey but I hope the Celtics pony up the money and resign him back.

By: al

al — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:53:53 +0000

Dead on when you said Balls were missing, the Celtics castrated them. Kobe is a gentleman, Phil is a superb coach but when you have players that are not willing to take a charge and play as a team you are lost. If Boston gets a better stong man than Perkins then they will repeat, every one else is in place

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:57:13 +0000

Toughness

Interior Defense – Bynum will bring some of that

Rebounding – Bynum will bring nearly all of that

A Top Defensive Small Forward

……….

Only three teams in the East can win. Their small forwards are LeBron James, Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis/Hedo Turkoglu. The Lakers need a top defensive small forward to be able to compete against these top Eastern teams.

Also out West Peja Stojakovic killed them in the regular season. He isn’t a hard guy to stop. Just needs some defensive discipline from someone. Chances are that LA will have to face the Hornets and you don’t want to start giving them three legit 20ppg scoring options to start off every game. Wow not too many other high scoring small forwards amongst the 6 best teams out West.

By: Kermit the Washington

Kermit the Washington — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:17:32 +0000

Oh my God Dino, the Bob Cousy days are DONE, get over it…

By: Kermit the Washington

Kermit the Washington — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:12:08 +0000

Artest or Josh Smith. Odom’s nice, but he disappears too often.

By: Eric Cartman

Eric Cartman — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:30:51 +0000

While the thought of having a frontline of Bynum, Gasol and Odom sounds great, the problem is that it will allow defenses to clog the lane because right there you have three players who have below average jumpshots. And Odom and Gasol aren’t consistent scorers on the inside(or anywhere), and neither is Bynum. Either Odom or Pau has to come off the bench or the Lakers are going to struggle to score.

By: Dino

Dino — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:02:05 +0000

This was the worse NBA Finals I have ever seen. If this is where the NBA game is at, I cannot wait for the start of the College Season! Nobody boxed anybody out, no one challenged shots, a wide-open pick-up game with 20 point swings, day in and day out! If this is basketball that these talented individual acrobats played, the NBA game is finished. Coaches that are clueless, and players that just run and shoot are not what makes this game interesting. By the way, did anyone ever tell Kobe Bryant that it is OK to catch the ball and quick-release a jumper without dribble, dribble, dribble! Duh…..I played the game for 25 years. The media spoke of good defense, and all I saw was sloppy passing and poor shot selection coupled with an absence of fundamentals by both teams! No wonder we get our butts kicked in international play!