Lakers Rotations
As the Lakers receive their fourth win from “Battle for LA” there is still tweaking to be done on the Laker’s rotations. During tonight’s game, and last nights game against New Jersey, Brown tried to make sure either Kobe Bryant or Ramon Sessions was on the court at all times. This way who ever was on the court would not lead to a one dimensional offense. This actually seemed to work as the Lakers never really blew a lead. Yes the Clippers would go on little runs (maybe a nasty dunk or two as well) and cut the Lakers lead a little, but the Lakers would hold their ground, and grind for few baskets to regain their cushion. It seems as if having Bryant or Sessions on the floor at all times is working. Notice that the game really did get close towards the end in the fourth when both Bryant and Sessions were getting rest before the final minutes of the game. A few minor tweaks may fix this but as of now the Lakers are looking good.
We know Bryant, Sessions, Gasol, and Bynum will get their minutes and points but it seems as if all ten of the other Lakers are hits or misses. Artest (World Peace) has glimpses of his old self but still remains inconsistent as he continues to start. Barnes is quietly putting up a very well rounded stat line, and I still believe is the best person to run the fast break with Sessions. Since being bumped back to the bench, Blake is still getting good minutes and seems to look like the old Steve Blake we need. Mc Robert’s spike in minutes is getting his boards, dunks, assists and even jumpers. He’s definitely found his way back into the rotation and his energy and aggressiveness is helping the Lakers out a lot, but killing Troy Murphy’s share.
Everyone else has pretty much fallen out of the rotation, or was never really in it. Still, Keep an eye out of Goudelock, and Hill. Goudelock still has use in him, the only issue is all he can really do is score. Hill on the other hand has seen very little playing time, one due to Bynum, Gasol, and Mc Roberts but second due to some knee sprain. It will be interesting to see if he does get an opportunity to play and how much of an impact he will have.
New Look Lakers
Ramon Sessions made his first career start for the Lakers Friday night at Staples Center. The Lakers definitely looked better offensively. Sessions is bringing a lot more to the table then what Steve Blake and Derek Fisher used to. The Lakers always have at least one person moving without the ball and there is plenty of movement, leading to a lot of good looks for each of the five on the floor. Still the Lakers blew another early lead which led to the Portland Trailblazers to remain contenders till late in the fourth quarter. It seems as if the Lakers are trying to do too much when given a comfortable lead. As soon as Los Angeles gained a bit of a lead, in comes all the turn overs from bad passes, attempted alley oops, and of course. Kobe being Kobe. That being said, this is all fixable by the play offs. Lakers just have to stop trying to make things fancy and stick to their half court game. This way they consistently hammer their opponents instead of giving them a chance to make a run. Also Kobe has to learn he has a lot of talent surrounding him. There is no need for him to put the team on his back and jack up shots just cause. The point of Sessions, Gasol, and Bynum is to take pressure of Kobe so Kobe can do his thing with more ease, but whats the point when Kobe makes poor shot choices. That being said, Kobe is just testing his limits and so with the other Lakers who are just trying to put the show back in lakeshow. The Lakers will make the playoffs, and its looking like they will have a chance to make a run for the number two seed. But in all honesty, this is a really good looking Lakers team. Be sure to watch out for them because this is a championship contending team.
From Tebowmania to Tebowsanity
With Tim Tebow to be a New York Jet for this upcoming football season, how will he mesh in? To be honest, I believe this is a great move for Tebow. If you were to compare the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos, there really is no difference. Both teams have okay defenses and both teams love to run the ball. So really Tebow still has a chance to be Tebow, but of course there is another QB controversy with Mark Sanchez. The real question here is what can Sanchez do that Tebow can’t?
Minus the whacky season the Jets had last season, Sanchez was not great at all. In fact I think he regressed as a third year. Another season of football and Sanchez still showed how unready he is to be an elite quarterback. The offense was kept simple for him (keeping in mind this is his third season as a starter) where its a run first offense, pound and pound the ball and then have Sanchez make a short pass or chuck it down the field. Does this sound at all familiar yet? Anyways continuing, even when Sanchez was called upon to throw the ball 59 times, he had a 50% completion rate with 4.37 yards/throw 1 touch down and 2 picks. I mean common or those not Tebow stats?
But, Tebow is not just another Mark Sanchez. Yes, we know he has been struggling with his passing game, but he has shown improvement. I for one would rather have Tebow’s improvement instead of Sanchez’s regression. Tebow also runs the ball very well, and to add that into your very run dependent offense, you are simply impriving. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe Tebow needs to improve amd will continue to improve his throwing, but with Sanchez’s resume I believe Tebow is a nice it with this Jets offense and would give this team more fire power. And if you can bring back the 2010-2011 Jets defense while making with progress on Tebow, you can be damn sure you have yourself a football player. At the end of the day one thing is for sure, Tim Tebow is a winner and he will have an impact on this New York Jets team.
NBA tattoos: Los Angeles Lakers, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: (8 players with tattoos, 6 players without)
The Lakers were one of the two most tattooed teams in the league last year, but with all of their personnel changes this year they’ve ended up at the league average.
Players with tattoos:
Matt Barnes
In September 2011,…
Source: nbatattoos
End of Tebowmania
Shortly after Tuesday afternoon, when Peyton Manning confirmed he had chosen Denver as his new home, it became clear that the Broncos had Tim Tebow on the trading block. And sure enough by Wednesday evening, after a little complication to the trade, the trade between the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos was finalized. Tim Tebow will be a New York Jet.
Throughout the 2011-2012 NFL season we saw how much of a polarizing figure Tebow had become. I’m sure many have seen several of his games and noticed how one dimensional he is, but he still managed to keep a wining record as a starter for the Broncos. So even with the coming of Manning, why trade Tebow? Why not let Tebow develop more under Manning, whom is arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the league?
Ironically Tebow’s popularity is the reason why he HAD to be shipped out of Denver. There was no way a fan favorite of Tebow’s caliber would be sitting on the bench. And even with Manning’s arrival, if anything were to go wrong and I mean anything, the fan’s would be calling for Manning’s head. Another Denver QB controversy would arise, and unless Peyton proves he’s still got it, Tebow would be starting once again. John Elway and the Denver Broncos can’t have this, not after all of what they are investing into Peyton. So really this trade benefits both the Broncos and Tebow. Plus why would you want to play for an organization in which management does not even believe in you?
Thoughts on Ramon Session’s future with The Lakers
The Lakers have been craving for a point guard for quite a while and we finally got one! That being said, a lot of people think Ramon Sessions should be starting. I want to agree, but it wouldn’t make any sense.
So The Lakers have been considered a “low post” team by Kobe Bryant, but that only includes our starting five since our bench can’t post without Bynum or do anything really for that matter. The majority of our points are scored from our Big 3, 63.4 ppg, while our bench is averaging 20.7 which is 25th in the league. Some how this has been working and The Lakers are currently third in the west, with the fifth best record in the league. And All of this was somehow done without a point guard. The first 43 games consisted of Fisher and Blake struggling to bring the ball past half court and simply dump it off to Bynum, Gasol, or Bryant to post up. This brings up our newly acquired Laker, Ramon Sessions. Will he mesh with our starting five?
Sessions is TOO good to “Fill Blake’s old role” or Fisher’s old role for that matter. Our point guards had no dribble penetration or any real impact at all. Sessions has shown he can run pick and rolls, but to do that with Bynum and Gasol will ruin this “low post” identity we’ve spent the first 45 games developing. That being said, I feel Mike Brown is already aware of this and is trying to make Sessions the leader of the Second unit. This will not only give our second unit an increase in points but its going to allow them to finally form their own identity. With Sessions, the second unit will thrive off of pick and roll and fast breaks. you already saw a glimpse of the chemistry between Barnes and Sessions In Ramon’s first two games. Sessions loves to push the ball, (did this in Cleveland) and with Barnes running the floor with him, (whom is a great cutter and probably one of the better wings on the team.) our bench is bound to score more. Soon it will be only a matter of time before the rest of the Laker bench learn to run to keep up with Session’s pace.
Our second unit has been primarily playing around Bynum which means less time that Bynum, Gasol, and Bryant are on the floor together. We can now finally end this with newly acquired Jordan Hill. Bynum will no longer be the center of attention against opponent’s defenses. You saw this Sunday night against the Jazz where Bynum would instantly be doubled, even tripled team as soon as he tried to post up. Yes he was very efficient against a underhanded Jazz team, but he was also a turnover machine with 5. If teams were to double or triple him when hes on the floor with our starting five, no problem. He has Gasol and Bryant to bail him out, but with the second unit Bynum ends up rushing a shot, or turning the ball over. Replacing Bynum with Hill will end our one dimensional bench, no more standing around waiting for Bynum to post up or taking another bad three.
That being said, our bench should be Sessions, Barnes, Murphy/Mcroberts Goudelock/Morris and Hill. And to be honesty even Ebanks will fit into the second unit. We’ve seen Ebanks a little during the begining of the season, and he plays like Trevor Ariza, without the defense. He’s very young and atheltic and has a decent jump shot. Anyways without Bynum centered around our second unit and holding them back, they can definitely run the floor on teams. Our whole second unit can run their asses off and push the ball for easy transition offense. We would only rely on pick and rolls when we need to run an offense (The Knicks have showed the league that you can only pick and roll so much before defenses figure it out). I think this will completely change our team period. We gain a bench that can really ignite our whole team morale since we DO have depth we just haven’t been able to take advantage. Another big positive to all this is no more 40+ minute games for our big three, and with Kobe aging and Bynum’s knee, this will take a lot of pressure off our starters, and benefit us more during the playoffs.
BUT to be honest when it comes down to the last 6 minutes in the fourth and we need to score i’d rather have Sessions in then Blake. Sessions won’t have to pick and roll with Bynum/Gasol. He can defer like Blake but when our posting goes wrong, (and you know it has) Sessions can be there to do a little orchestrating so that we do end up with crucial points. So in a way i guess Blake will take Fisher’s old role and Sessions will take Blake’s.
Lakers are up 50 - 41 at the half versus the Timberwolves.
6 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 10 minutes for Sessions.
(Jordan Hill isn’t suiting up for tonight’s game)
Source: fuckyeahlakers
28 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots.
The most impressive part of his game tonight was his 5-8 shooting from downtown. The Lakers collectively shot 10-22 from 3-pt. range.
Source: fuckyeahlakers
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