Trevor Ariza should be in this years dunk contest.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Ariza=2008-2009 Most Improved Player

[wcsoldier]

Phil said his j is looking respectable. But I don't want him to fall in love with shooting (ala Maurice Evans). I want him to keep slashing and throwing it down.

I do not think  he will fall in love with the outside J ... it's just a matter of being wide open and being obliged to shoot it and knockin it down on a consistent basis  ... you have to make pay opponents for the double team , if not Ariza defender will help on Bynum/Gasol/Kobe every single possession

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

He clearly knows his role on this team.


I wouldn't worry about him shooting out of sync.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dev7mlPHx40" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/dev7mlPHx40</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xic_PcOZH9M" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/Xic_PcOZH9M</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/5YRpZKZJmsQ" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/5YRpZKZJmsQ</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rw2Di4BWZtg" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/Rw2Di4BWZtg</a>

[WestCoasta]

^  I like that aggressive type play, some people need to take a page from his book

fuck that gay ass layup shit when you get that close to the basket, nothing looks worse

[GangstaBoogy]

Last year Farmar & Vucacic were killers off the bench. This year Farmar is playing well with Ariza. If those 3 can develop chemistry together with Odom in the mix this bench is gonna be insane.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^yup..our bench is better than some starting fives.


PG Jordan Farmar
SG Sasha Vujacic
SF Trevor Ariza
PF Lamar Odom
C Chris Mihm


All starting players on most other teams.
 

[Antonio]

Farmar and Vujacic improved dramatically in the last season. I didn't have high expectations on Farmar, you know, but last summer he spent a lot of hours working on his body, he added some muscles, he lost weight, and he built a very efficient long range shoot. Sasha, on the other hand, improved dramatically on the defensive end, and you know he can shoot so if he can stay on the floor for a couple of minutes without letting his opponent score a lot of points, he can score a lot. I gotta give mad props to both of them and to Phil Jackson and the whole Lakers staff, they did an insane job with those 2 players. Ariza.... i was a fan of him when he was still in Orlando, and i was one of the most excited guys in the forum when we traded Cook and Evans to get him. I knew he was an excellent defender and a wonderful athlete, so he ain't surprising me at all. Odom.. well Odom we all know him (i told you guys Phil is gonna use him as a PF this year.. and it looks like i was right), and Mihm is a good underrated backup center. I mean he averaged like 10 points per game in his first season with us, he can score, he always scored quite a lot of points in his career, and he can make some fouls and block some shots. He's a good backup C, def.

P.S. The fact we have other good role players like Walton, Powell and Mbenga makes our bench the deepest in the league.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^I agree with everything you said, only I believed Farmar would become something and I'd say Mihm is a starting quality center when healthy.

[Antonio]

Yeah, you liked Farmar since day-1. I didn't. But now (that he improved) i do.
And it's probably the opposite about Sasha Vujacic.
But the important thing is that now we both likes them.