[Damian Necronamous]

I just love the way our bench has been playing so far this season. Slava finally seems to be becoming the player that he can be, Rush is beginning to become one hell of a scorer, Cook has surprised us, Fish continues to be a solid contributor, Russell makes 20ft layups with ease, and Jamal Sampson is grabbing rebounds left and right.

Slava: 9.4ppg, 4.3rpg
DFish: 7.6ppg, 2.3apg
Cook: 5.7ppg, 3.0rpg
Russell: 5.1ppg, 2.7rpg
Rush: 4.6ppg
Grant: 3.3ppg, 3.7rpg
Sampson: 2.2ppg, 3.8rpg
WALTON: 1.8ppg, 1.1apg

I can't wait until Foxy gets back!

 

[Cap]

The Lakers bench just needed a bit more PT. They're still not great, but this will still be the best bench the Lakers have had the last 4 years, and I'd say the Lakers' have had some success in that time.

Anyway, I think a 6th, 7th, and 8th man rotation of Slava, Russell, and Fox is quite good. I'd like Cook and Walton to round out the 9th and 10th spots, but knowing Phil and his penchant for never playing rookies, that'll never happen. So I expect Fisher and Rush to be there (actually, I expect Phil to use Fisher as a 6th man, unfortunately :no: ).

 

[Damian Necronamous]

Cook has been getting some PT, he's been playing well. Walton hasn't because, well, he hasn't been playing well.

When Fox gets back, I expect our rotation to look like this...

PG: Gary Payton...Derek Fisher
SG: Kobe Bryant...Kareem Rush
SF: Devean George/Rick Fox...Devean George/Rick Fox...Bryon Russell
PF: Karl Malone...Brian Cook
C: Shaquille O'Neal...Stanislav Medvedenko...Jamal Sampson

IR: Luke Walton, Horace Grant

Horace Grant will probably start off on the IR, but Phil will eventually get tired of his poor play, and give the deserving Sampson a chance.

 

[Kobe4King]

Originally posted by <b>Damian Necronamous</b>!

Horace Grant will probably start off on the IR, but Phil will eventually get tired of his poor play, and give the deserving Sampson a chance.

I certainly hope so:yes:

 

[Pinball]

Originally posted by <b>Damian Necronamous</b>!
Horace Grant will probably start off on the IR, but Phil will eventually get tired of his poor play, and give the deserving Sampson a chance.

I don't even think we need to give Sampson a chance. I'd just let Cook and Slava backup Shaq at C. If they want to give Sampson a brief look here and there, that is fine. However, if he doesn't show anything, Cook and Slava should get the old goat's minutes. Russell and Fox can play some SF. Rush can play SG. Fisher will man the point. I think Walton should get the 12th spot on the roster. He can play 2-3 positions and is an excellent passer. Horace brings nothing to this team.

 

[Damian Necronamous]

Luke Walton is NOT an excellent passer. It annoys me to keep hearing this, lol. People say he is a great passer because he passes so darn much. He always overpasses to his and the team's disadvantage. He is always too nervous to take shots around the hoop and he's not ready to be a bigtime contributor to this team.

Jamal Sampson is just a very very good rebounder. Like I've said before, if the Lakers hang onto him, and give him a shot...he has a very good chance at becoming the next Ben Wallace. He doesn't score very much, and probably won't ever average over 8ppg in a season, but he crashes the boards, and could become a defensive force.

 

[Hibachi!]

Horace Grant will probably start off on the IR, but Phil will eventually get tired of his poor play, and give the deserving Sampson a chance.

Phil loves veterans, hates rookies, so PT for Sampson over Horace? UH NO

Luke Walton is NOT an excellent passer. It annoys me to keep hearing this, lol. People say he is a great passer because he passes so darn much. He always overpasses to his and the team's disadvantage. He is always too nervous to take shots around the hoop and he's not ready to be a bigtime contributor to this team.

THANK YOU

 

[Damian Necronamous]

Originally posted by <b>SacKings384</b>!
Phil loves veterans, hates rookies, so PT for Sampson over Horace? UH NO

Sampson isn't a rookie.:grinning:

 

[Hibachi!]

Sampson isn't a rookie.

O wow hes a second year player... that played 1.6 mins per game, so he sort of is a rookie since he never saw any PT unless it was garbage time...

 

[Cap]

Luke Walton is NOT an excellent passer. It annoys me to keep hearing this, lol. People say he is a great passer because he passes so darn much. He always overpasses to his and the team's disadvantage. He is always too nervous to take shots around the hoop and he's not ready to be a bigtime contributor to this team.

Wow, I have no idea how you can say Walton is not a good passer. I suppose Payton saying that Walton is one of the most gifted passers he's seen in his entire career means nothing?

Walton isn't very good at a lot of things, but passing is definitely not one of those things.

 

[Hibachi!]

Wow, I have no idea how you can say Walton is not a good passer. I suppose Payton saying that Walton is one of the most gifted passers he's seen in his entire career means nothing?

Ray Allen also said Tim Thomas is better than Kobe, hmm maybe some team bias?

 

[Damian Necronamous]

Originally posted by <b>EHL</b>!


Wow, I have no idea how you can say Walton is not a good passer. I suppose Payton saying that Walton is one of the most gifted passers he's seen in his entire career means nothing?

Well if Gary says it, it must be true.

 

[Hibachi!]

Well if Gary says it, it must be true.

...

 

[Cap]

Originally posted by <b>Damian Necronamous</b>!


Well if Gary says it, it must be true.

No, I'll just take have to agree with Gary Payton (and Phil Jackson too btw) and disagree with Damian Necronamous.

 

[Locke]

Originally posted by <b>SacKings384</b>!


Ray Allen also said Tim Thomas is better than Kobe, hmm maybe some team bias?

No, that's basically just Ray hating on Kobe.

 

[Jamel Irief]

Great post! A lot of people were down on the bench early, but that was with Fox, Cook and Slava out and Russell 2 weeks after signing with the team. We got some dependable vets there (Fish, Russell) along with some young wildcards that may or may not produce (Slava, Rush, Cook) and some decent but limited players (Grant and Walton).

 

[compsciguy78]

Originally posted by <b>Damian Necronamous</b>!
Luke Walton is NOT an excellent passer. It annoys me to keep hearing this, lol. People say he is a great passer because he passes so darn much. He always overpasses to his and the team's disadvantage. He is always too nervous to take shots around the hoop and he's not ready to be a bigtime contributor to this team.

Jamal Sampson is just a very very good rebounder. Like I've said before, if the Lakers hang onto him, and give him a shot...he has a very good chance at becoming the next Ben Wallace. He doesn't score very much, and probably won't ever average over 8ppg in a season, but he crashes the boards, and could become a defensive force.

I hear you Damian. Luke Walton is a good passer, but I agree that he should be more agressive when it comes to scoring because he has a decent 20 footer and this would help open the floor up. He is definitely a good passer though, you can't take that away from him.

 

[Sean]

J.A. Adande: Rookie Walton Quickly Earning Trust

January 11, 2004

J.A. Adande: Rookie Walton Quickly Earning Trust

Luke Walton was one of the most versatile players in college basketball last season, a forward who could control the game and pass as well as anyone.

The NBA doesn't care about what you did in college. Increasingly, it doesn't even care if you went to college at all. Physique comes first. Then brains. The great players are blessed with both. Intelligent, agile small men have to fight to stay in the league, but there will always be a roster spot for an oafish 7-footer.

At 6 feet 8, 235 pounds, Walton isn't exceptionally large for a frontcourt player. He isn't as quick as the backcourt players. His knowledge of the game enticed the Lakers to select him in the second round of the 2003 draft, and it has caused Coach Phil Jackson to occasionally turn to Walton in games.

"He's doing pretty well," said Jackson, who usually doesn't have much use for rookies. "He had the ball more in his hands when he was a college player. We like to get the ball in his hands and give it to him when he has the opportunity. Guys trust him a little bit."

At Arizona, Walton would look to attack as soon as he got the ball. He'd work his way into the lane, draw a double-team and find a teammate for the open shot.

"Now I catch the ball, I just try to see where people are going," he said. "I'm a lot more passive now than I would be if I was in college. It's a lot less instinctive. I'm trying to get a feel for it, and trying to get comfortable out there."

He played with such future NBA players as Richard Jefferson and Gilbert Arenas at Arizona, so the NBA athleticism isn't a shock. But the strength is.

"In college, they're athletic, but they're still skinny, growing," said Walton, who has 46 points and 27 assists. "These people out here, they're grown men. You have to outthink people, get around them, as opposed to college where you could just back 'em down and overpower young guys."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...1,2072131.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba

 

[Brian34Cook]

Why dont they ever write article's on Cook? :sigh: