He makes up for this on the defensive end. Steals, blocks, annoying the opposing center is something Kwame is credited for. But when a guard throws a gentle pass to Kwame on the post up half the time he fumbles it. Doh!

Tim-4-Show on November 15, 2007 at 12:32 pm said:

I don’t want to be misunderstood… we NEED Kwame. He has his bright spots. I’m just saying he really needs to work on his rebounding in particular. If he can just play solid D the whole time + grab boards (such as Ronny), then he’s everything we can expect from him. If he could ever find a way to be nuetral on offense (primarily by cutting down on TOs) then he’d be a star in my book. He has the ability, I just want to see him develop that ability.

I’m not putting it ALL on Kwame, for crying out loud it takes more than just him. All I’m saying is, we’re praising him, which is good, but he has a lot of room for improvement as well. Let’s not give him a free pass.

What’s with Walton? Man that D on Bonzi was just ridiculous.

We’ve got a long ways to go as a team. We have some good components, but it just needs to come together better. This is about what I thought we’d see, a little slow out of the gates and hopefully we pick it up as the season rolls on.

Farmar is making a lot of mistakes out there, but that’s actually a GOOD thing at this point in the season for the reasons I outlined above. Once this team really starts coming together, Farmar will have learned from all those mistakes and we’ll be that much tougher to beat. I just want to see Kwame improve as well, that’s all.

Very true. Kwame can improve and hopefully will. As for Luke, he had a great block on Bonzi, but for most of the game he was getting beat off the dribble. Bonzi was getting into the paint with ease all night. I think you nailed it with Farmar.

I’m not putting it ALL on Kwame, for crying out loud it takes more than just him. All I’m saying is, we’re praising him, which is good, but he has a lot of room for improvement as well. Let’s not give him a free pass.

What’s with Walton? Man that D on Bonzi was just ridiculous.

We’ve got a long ways to go as a team. We have some good components, but it just needs to come together better. This is about what I thought we’d see, a little slow out of the gates and hopefully we pick it up as the season rolls on.

Farmar is making a lot of mistakes out there, but that’s actually a GOOD thing at this point in the season for the reasons I outlined above. Once this team really starts coming together, Farmar will have learned from all those mistakes and we’ll be that much tougher to beat. I just want to see Kwame improve as well, that’s all.

Tim-4-Show on November 15, 2007 at 11:08 am said:

Here’s the thing about Kwame that I find perplexing… he plays good defense, but are his contributions overshadowed by his shortcomings?

Here’s the thing, he played Duncan well, but the moment he stepped onto the court, our team went on a horrendous streak and went down by 18. Kwame’s lenovo stat reflected this.

Last night, we were up by 17 when Kwame came in, and when Bynum returned, the game was pretty much tied up. Kwame’s Lenovo stat last night was only -5, and that’s an improvement from the Spurs game. Some of that was made up in the 4th also.

Contrast that with Bynum’s Lenovo stat of +10. I realize some of this has to do with who else is on the floor, both on our team and the other team, but it’s not like this is happening all in garbage time, it’s in crucial minutes.

Kwame, for example, blocked Yao’s shot and then stood there all happy with himself. Meanwhile, Yao grabbed the ball and took it hard to the hoop, 2pts. Kwame would defend well and then give up a rebound on many possessions. Kwame would defend well and then turnover the ball on the other end. There’s more to this than JUST playing defense, some of the other skills have to be executed as well.

All in all I think Kwame has been playing better, but I wouldn’t be so quick to thank him for his services, since he’s been bringing a negative lenovo lately.

Great analysis. I am still not convinced Kwame is the one to blame. What do you think the result would have been last night if Kwame did not play? I feel it would have been worse. Mihm would get more PT and hes been awful. The Lakers don’t have a problem on offense, its the defense that kills them. Therefore I am all for putting out defensive players. But you make a great point with good support behind it. I just think it’s completely unfair to put the last 2 games on Kwame when the Lakers turn the ball over 12 times in a quarter.

Here’s the thing, he played Duncan well, but the moment he stepped onto the court, our team went on a horrendous streak and went down by 18. Kwame’s lenovo stat reflected this.

Last night, we were up by 17 when Kwame came in, and when Bynum returned, the game was pretty much tied up. Kwame’s Lenovo stat last night was only -5, and that’s an improvement from the Spurs game. Some of that was made up in the 4th also.

Contrast that with Bynum’s Lenovo stat of +10. I realize some of this has to do with who else is on the floor, both on our team and the other team, but it’s not like this is happening all in garbage time, it’s in crucial minutes.

Kwame, for example, blocked Yao’s shot and then stood there all happy with himself. Meanwhile, Yao grabbed the ball and took it hard to the hoop, 2pts. Kwame would defend well and then give up a rebound on many possessions. Kwame would defend well and then turnover the ball on the other end. There’s more to this than JUST playing defense, some of the other skills have to be executed as well.

All in all I think Kwame has been playing better, but I wouldn’t be so quick to thank him for his services, since he’s been bringing a negative lenovo lately.