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Archive for the 'User's Take' Category

Using Stats to Predict the Bynum-Gasol Tandem

Published by Shane Bien on October 5, 2008 in User's Take. 6 Comments

The Lakers Nation would like to thank Jon Nichols for sending us this original article. If you have any ideas for statistical discussion, let us know and we will see if we can have Jon Nichols from Basketball-Statistics.com crunch some numbers!

The Lakers will be good next year, and there’s very little doubt about it.  The question is: how good?  The easiest way to answer that question would be to determine how the Lakers’ two dominating big men, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, will work together.  They’ve never had to play along side each other, and it’s easy to see why some people wonder how it will work out.  Although their games aren’t exact replicas of each other, they don’t appear to be perfect compliments either.  Both need to be near the basket to score, and a crowded interior would hurt both of them.  The Lakers can try to stagger their minutes so that they each have time in the paint for themselves, but they will have to play with each other quite a bit.

The good folks at The Lakers Nation have assigned me the mission of predicting how Bynum and Gasol will play next to each other, and so I’m going to give it my best shot.

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Ariza’s Shot

Published by Jim Murdoc on September 24, 2008 in User's Take. 19 Comments

Special thanks to Travis J. Rodgers for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

Recent rumblings have suggested that the LA Lakers are toying with the idea of sending starting Power Forward Lamar Odom to the bench. There are several considerations that recommend this move, but probably the biggest issue would be deciding who would start in Odom’s spot. The move with the highest potential payoff is promoting Trevor Ariza to the starting lineup. This move, however, is fraught with risk.

Lamar Odom came to Los Angeles for the 2004/05 season in the deal that sent out Shaquille O’Neal. He has played in more than 250 games since joining the Lakers, playing either Forward spot, initiating the offense on occasion, and filling in as the biggest man on the court in rare instances as well. But Odom’s willingness to play whatever spot the Lakers have asked him to is too frequently outweighed by his unwillingness (or inability depending upon whom you ask) to remain aggressive as a scoring option. With limited shooting from distance, and two behemoths manning the 4 and 5 spots for the upcoming season, Odom’s lack of aggressiveness could force management’s hand. He simply lacks a skill set that will allow a Small Forward to thrive in the current Lakers’ lineup.

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The Kobe Bryant Ride

Published by Jim Murdoc on September 13, 2008 in User's Take. 38 Comments

Special thanks to LoLo for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

I’ve always considered myself to be fair when it comes to criticism and praise. As my subordinates at work will tell you, I hold them to a very high standard, yet I praise them to no end when they perform well, and I critique them equally when they’re not up to par. The same can be said about the athletes I write about (granted most of them are Lakers and Dodgers).

Lord knows, I’ve had my issues with Kobe Bryant over the years. His play on the court though has never been an issue. I’ve always marveled at his basketball skills, even to a fault sometimes as I selfishly prayed that the title of Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T.) would one day reside in my team’s corner, a title held by one Kobe Bryant.

That selfishness on my part has led to frustration over the years in waiting for Kobe to put the “entire package” together. I love Michael Jordan, and after watching him his entire career there is no doubt in my mind he is the G.O.A.T.

I’ve also concluded that as good as Kobe is, the best he will be is the second place G.O.A.T. To some, that’s a knock on Kobe. To me, it’s a compliment. One could do a lot worse than be second to Michael Jordan. To paraphrase Kobe, “Let M.J. be M.J.” Still, it pains me that for all of the Lakers’ history, the G.O.A.T. is not a Laker. But that is by no means a knock on Kobe.

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The Case for Mbenga

Published by Jim Murdoc on September 2, 2008 in User's Take. 28 Comments

Special thanks to Travis J. Rodgers for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

When DJ Mbenga’s agent said that if things went well, Mbenga would be signed by either the Lakers or the Heat, he initiated a bit of speculation about what exactly his comments meant. A workout for Miami could hardly suddenly create interest for Mbenga’s presence back in the purple and gold. At the same time, if Mbenga were happy with some offer from the Lakers, he would not be working out for the Heat. So it seems as if the most likely scenario is that Mbenga has a lowball offer on the table from the Lakers and is looking to draw either a more significant offer from Miami (or possibly the same pay rate and more playing time) or to urge the Lakers to increase their offer if they intend to keep him.

The Lakers are probably asking themselves what Mbenga is worth. Specifically, they are probably asking whether he is worth anything more than the Veteran Minimum salary. It is worthwhile to look at the Lakers’ current lineup, gauge Mbenga’s skills, and determine whether he is worth only the Vet Min or whether he is worth more.

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Assessing L.A. Lakers’ Team Needs

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 19, 2008 in User's Take. 63 Comments

Special thanks to Travis J. Rodgers for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

Assessing LA Lakers’ Team Needs -

Assuming the Los Angeles Lakers have the core of their camp invites already selected, it becomes easy to speculate about which players address problem areas exposed during the Lakers’ ill-fated Finals appearance. Speculation is possible at three levels: identifying the problem areas, identifying who are the core players and who are not yet guaranteed, and identifying which players address the needs best.

The first thing that needs to be said is that the Lakers have a team that must build for the post season. This is obvious for two reasons. In the first place, the team was dominant before Andrew Bynum’s season ending knee injury and dominant after the arrival of Pau Gasol. Now both of them are on the team and presumably healthy (Pau is; witness his dominant Olympics performance). Second, simply getting to the playoffs will not do. After a young team makes a trip to the Finals and retains its core, the expectations increase. The Lakers must play like a playoff team, not like a regular season juggernaut (see the Phoenix Suns of recent years) in order for the season to be considered a success.

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A Candid Look at Greatness

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 16, 2008 in USA Basketball and User's Take. 7 Comments

Special thanks to Travis J. Rodgers for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

One’s ability to adapt to new surroundings and challenges speaks volumes about one’s degree of competence. Spectators across the globe are now presented with the opportunity to observe the NBA’s greatest players facing new surroundings (team USA) and new challenges (the basketball world and the international game). As Lakers fans tune in to watch Kobe Bryant in the white number ten jersey, they should expect to see something very different from what they see in the purple and gold eight. The question is whether Kobe is modifying his game as he should.

Entering Thursday’s game against the Hellenes, while Kobe had been touted for his defense, he had been maligned for his shooting from “long” range. That is, despite the international three point line being a bit closer than the NBA line, Kobe had shot just 1 for 15 on threes. So facing what was considered the first “true” competition in the Greek squad (featuring, among others, almost Laker Theodorus Papaloukas), what should spectators have seen? In short, an honest read of Kobe Bryant as a player.

The setting has changed, but Kobe’s raw attributes have shone through. The virtues and vices he possesses are merely looking a bit different because of the change in scenario. Kobe is still fantastically athletic. Witness at least two fastbreak dunks Kobe thundered home and two attempted alley oops. One Kobe threw down; another he missed, cramming it hard off the back iron. Still his level of athleticism is elite even on a team of athletic freaks and facing superior competition.

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The Fringe Lakers

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 11, 2008 in User's Take. 26 Comments

Special thanks to Travis J. Rodgers for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

Coby Karl, Joe Crawford, D.J. Mbenga, Dwayne Mitchell, Sun Yue. What do these players have in common? They have a good chance of being on the L.A. Lakers when the season starts. Well, a better chance than I have of being on the team at least. Then again, none of them are a sure thing. So who has the best chance of making the team, what roles might they see, and what does it all mean for the Lakers?

Coby Karl - “George’s Son” is a 6′5 204 pound Shooting Guard who played in 17 games for the Lakers last season, doing little other than hitting 80% of his Free Throws. He was then given ample opportunity to shine for LA’s Summer League team. The results: we saw that Karl is a gunner who takes stupid shots and gets killed on defense. Of course he didn’t have Bynum backing him up, but Karl’s performance was disappointing to say the least.

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Wake up, Lakers Nation!

Published by Jim Murdoc on June 11, 2008 in User's Take. 33 Comments

Sugarcoat it or tell it like it is? That is the “Hamlet” question for Lakers fans Nationwide.

If you saw Kobe Bryant’s face pregame on national television on Tuesday, you saw him sitting on the bench during warm-ups; rolling his eyes away from the camera. He is a man who wants to tell it like it is.

Our Lakers are in trouble. Gasol has admitted himself, that he is having a Freddy Krueger type of series. Meanwhile, Odom has to keep reinventing a new way to phrase “more aggressive” everytime he gets interviewed and Fisher is as quite as his game and demeanor. These three are our best players right after Kobe, and they do not have their work uniforms on. Let’s not even mention the likes of Vlad and Walton who are playing like their not even employed.

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