Will Kwame Brown & Lamar Odom become an elite PF/SF combo alongside Kobe Bryant?

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Straight up, do you think Kwame & Lamar will provide a nice 1-2 punch at the forward spots to accompany Kobe in an all new "big 3" or do you think they will never surpass the roll-player status leaving Kobe as the only major threat on the Lakers for the next few years? I, as a Laker fan, am proud to say that I've developed high hopes for the plan to place Kobe on the wing and make Lamar the initiator, while having a cool list of some developing/improving big men rotate in the front court (Kwame, Mihm, Bynum, etc.). Antonio says the Lakers will not suceed this season and that the plan is bullshit...What do ya'll think? Will the hype finally be reached?

[Javier]

It's going to take more than a year for this team to get the triangle offense to perfection.  But u never you know, it could have an immediate effect and the Lakers can become a threat but I believe it will just take time

[Teddy Roosevelt]

But u never you know, it could have an immediate effect and the Lakers can become a threat but I believe it will just take time

Wouldn't that be a lakers fan's wet dream.
It's hard to tell. You really have to see how the team turns out at the begining of the season. Preseason isn't really a fair evaluation of things to come. Personally I think it will take a year or so for these two to develop and understand the offense. Until then Kobe will take all the important shots, and will have to fight the urge to shoot everytime his team mates misses a basket. This year they will probably serve between the 2-3 punch and the key role players. But I predicte great thing for the lakers in 06-07.

According to SLAM magazine what is the lakers theme song for the season?
"No more fun and games" -The Game

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

I don't know what you see in mihm..he's garbage..and i think kobe and Bynum are the future..Lamar will probably be trade bait in a couple of years,and Kwame has been playing really good so far..

so my answer is NO..

the future

C:A.Bynum

PF:Kwame Brown

SF:D.Goerge (BTW he's playing fucking great right now )  /Luke Walton

SG: kobe

PG:??

[Javier]

Wasnt Mihm good though everytime he was on the court?  is just that he was always in foul trouble.  Plus his numbers are really similiar to Luc Longley when he played with the Bulls

[TeeRaySix9Teen]

Wasnt Mihm good though everytime he was on the court? 

well in that game against the Nuggets...he did something ive NEVER seen before. Somehow he managed to block HIMSELF when he was all alone under the basket. Pretty impressive. 

[acbaylove]

It all depends from the circumstances. Like i've said thousands of times, both Odom and Brown have the skills to be considered impact players, but they are menthally wack, and it's a long run to turn them from players who never reached their potential to superstars. If it wasnt that hard, Kwame was still in Washington, and Lamar was still in Los Angeles. I've seen 2 preseason games, and Odom is still doing the same mistakes. In the last match he went 0/7 from the field. Horrible. Because he took only 7 shots. And because he missed them all. He's averaging less that 10 ppg (less than Bryant, Brown, George and even Smush Parker!) and he's shooting extremely bad (he's 2/14 from 3pts and he's shooting with .351 from 2pts and, for a player who's main goal is to use mismatches to make easy basket it's a pretty bad stat). Plus he aint impressing nobody (i've heard Phil might move him back to PF). We will see, i'm not a wizard and i can't predict the future, but right now we still got a problem. Brown is playing pretty well. I mean if you make an alley-hoop, he can dunk with energy. And if you give him the ball when he's in front of the basket, just under the basket, he can finish it hard. But i've seen no footwork, no post moves, no jumpshots, none of those things. Brown is a 4 years prospect, it's different than Odom. Odom has no excuses, while Brown is still 23 years old, so there's still space to improve. Anyway, to reply to your question, i think the Lakers will start with Parker, George, Bryant, Odom and Brown. So no PF/SF combo. Maybe PF/C. Check Phil's interviews after the game against the Bobcats.

[7even]

When they are put in different environments, it takes time for them players to adjust and finally bring their entire capacity on court. Like Shaq, he put up weaker numbers at the start of last season than later on, same thing with McGrady, who sure will be a contender for most ppg next season again, as he finally knows how to play for the Rockets. With the new idiosyncratic coach and new line-up, it gon take them Lakers a while too. The problem is, one might not even see how good this team can be, since we have to know that if the team flops changes will be made way earlier. And then they would have to start at the beginning again. Personally, I think the "final" Laker-Roster won't be glued together with fitting chemistry before Kobe turned 30.

[wcsoldier]

Don't know about that, too early to tell. There are 2 main points for me :
- The triangle offense isn't easy to play so it'll take time
- The impact of Phil on these 2 players attitude and mentality.

About this season, pre-games don't mean shit but the main pb is the weakness of our rotation, the bench is far from being deep when it comes to quality.Can't wait for the beginning of the season, 17 games on TV a week for French NBA addicts (not bad  )

[PLANT]

I think Lamar is a great player.  For his size, he's as versatile as they come.  I dont have much faith in Kwame Brown tho, it seems like he doesnt have the drive and what it takes to get his game to the next level.

[eS El Duque]

Odom is a great player

Kwame just sucks as of now...until i see him perform in the regular season



So no

[Juronimo]

I would have to say yes, they will become an elite combo and it's one of the few things that will give us Laker fans hope for the coming season. Kwame will actually get some minutes so he will have plenty of opportunities to be productive. Odom has a tougher role as he has to be the initiator. That's why you don't see him scoring much in the preseason. He has to learn the offense and then initiate it, which is a lot of work. It will take him some time to master his new role but when he does, he will be a much more effective player for it.

Phil knows what he's doing and he'll get the best out of those 2. I'm not worried about them at all.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

It all depends from the circumstances. Like i've said thousands of times, both Odom and Brown have the skills to be considered impact players, but they are menthally wack, and it's a long run to turn them from players who never reached their potential to superstars. If it wasnt that hard, Kwame was still in Washington, and Lamar was still in Los Angeles. I've seen 2 preseason games, and Odom is still doing the same mistakes. In the last match he went 0/7 from the field. Horrible. Because he took only 7 shots. And because he missed them all. He's averaging less that 10 ppg (less than Bryant, Brown, George and even Smush Parker!) and he's shooting extremely bad (he's 2/14 from 3pts and he's shooting with .351 from 2pts and, for a player who's main goal is to use mismatches to make easy basket it's a pretty bad stat). Plus he aint impressing nobody (i've heard Phil might move him back to PF). We will see, i'm not a wizard and i can't predict the future, but right now we still got a problem. Brown is playing pretty well. I mean if you make an alley-hoop, he can dunk with energy. And if you give him the ball when he's in front of the basket, just under the basket, he can finish it hard. But i've seen no footwork, no post moves, no jumpshots, none of those things. Brown is a 4 years prospect, it's different than Odom. Odom has no excuses, while Brown is still 23 years old, so there's still space to improve. Anyway, to reply to your question, i think the Lakers will start with Parker, George, Bryant, Odom and Brown. So no PF/SF combo. Maybe PF/C. Check Phil's interviews after the game against the Bobcats.

First of all, LMAO@you judging Lamar Odom by his pre-season games...Obviously, star players are way better than what they show in the pre-season, that's a known fact...Second of all, Phil speaks out of his ass a lot. He's discussed many possibilities, including starting Walton, Smush, McKie, & George...This is how the roster looks so far:

Smush Parker…Aaron McKie/Sasha Vujacic/Von Wafer
Kobe Bryant...Laron Profit/Devin Green/Tony Bobbit
Lamar Odom…..Devean George/Luke Walton/Jumain Jones
Kwame Brown…..Brian Cook/Slava Medvadenko/Corie Blount
Chris Mihm…..Andrew Bynum/Adam Parada

The plan is to have Kobe, Lamar, & Kwame playing the roll of the big 3, while Smush & Mihm will be key role players. Then we'll have a nice list of players coming off the bench like Devean George (6th man of the year candidate?), Aaron Mckie, Brian Cook, Luke Walton, etc. I mean, I never said the Lakers are currently for sure championship candidates, but I think they have a good shot at being a strong team...I have faith in Showtime.

[acbaylove]

Ok and the point of your reply was? That i have to change my opinion judging Odom by the "potential" you see in him and not by judging what he has done in the previous season and during this preseason? Dont you find it a little pointless? Everybody know he has a good potential: his only problem is that he never showed it. And he's still not showing it. I say what i see. And i'm seing Odom doing bad numbers and being everything but our 2nd best offensive weapon (right now he's listed at number 5 in that list). If he'll do great numbers i'll see it and i'll praise him. The "role" of a fan is to support him, not to dickride him like you do. You see monkeys flying.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

LOL...You sound like one of the Laker haters, throwing around words like "dickrider" when people defend Laker players. How am I dickriding Odom when he's not even one of my favorite players?...Then you got people who don't even like the Lakers saying shit like:

Odom is a great player

I think Lamar is a great player. For his size, he's as versatile as they come.

...which makes you look like a fake ass fan. Odom is already considered a really good player, easily the second best on the Lakers. Now the test is whether he can perform at superstar status, cause whether he can play or not has already been proven...You seem to be the only one who has it twisted about that though.