Line-up Craziness

Ahh, the pre-season, that wonderful time before the regular season where even the most minute of experiments can be turned into a big story.  Take, for example, the Lakers experimentation with various non-traditional line-ups which has the Laker fan base oddly excited.

Adding Andrew Bynum to this mix as well will only slow the Lakers down.

Yes, the idea of seeing Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum all on the floor at the same time is very intriguing.  All that talent and size could really create some match-up problems.  Few teams have the personnel to defend two seven-footers and a 6′10″ small forward.  Just imagine those three either shooting over their smaller defenders or just plain out-muscling them.  On paper it is a great idea.  Then again, so is Communism.  The problem is that the Lakers can only post-up so many players at the same time, which kind of defeats the purpose of having all three big men on the court at the same time, especially with how the triangle offense works.  In all likelihood that turns Odom into a jump shooting passer, things that he does pretty well for a power forward, but as a small forward is only about average, if that.  What makes Odom truly effective as a power forward is his ability to out quick other bigs, but that quickness edge disappears against more athletic small forwards.  So what advantage is really being gained there?

Let’s also not forget what kind of problems it creates for the Lakers on defense.  Odom can try and slow down opposing small forwards with his length, that is assuming he can keep them in front of him.  He will have good protection behind him though with both Gasol and Bynum patrolling the paint, but then again, so would any other small forward who could probably do a better job of perimeter defense.  I’m not saying that the line-up makes no sense, it just needs to be used very judiciously, as in maybe five to ten minutes per game maximum, assuming there is a match-up the Lakers see as exploitable.

That isn’t the only unusual line-up the Lakers have been toying with though.  The backcourt tandem of Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown has definitely been generating some buzz in the pre-season as well.  In theory, the two quick ballhandlers would allow the Lakers to up the tempo and run a transition game.  Again, a very exciting notion, who doesn’t love fast break basketball?  The only problem is that fast break basketball is not the Lakers’ strong suit and takes aware their defensive edge, especially with two smaller defenders in the backcourt.  And if the transition offense doesn’t click, guess what?  The Lakers are stuck running a half-court offense with two of the lesser talented players on the roster.  Suddenly I am not feeling so excited.

Don’t get too excited, Jordan and Shannon.  Just because you had some pre-season success doesn’t mean your gimmick will play in the regular season.

There’s an old saying about not fixing things that aren’t broken and the Laker line-ups definitely aren’t broken, so says the O’Brien Trophy currently on display at the Staples Center.  So let’s do away with these whacked out rotations and leave them to the lesser teams who need all the gimmicks they can just to be competitive.  Frankly, it is just beneath the Lakers.

Tags: Analysis, Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Shannon Brown