Lakers bench is tops in NBA
The Lakers are one game away from finishing a fantastic road trip as they head into Minnesota a respectable 6-2. Overall they are bludgeoning opponents with fundamental basketball, running their patented triangle offense as good or better then anyone in the history of the game. It’s just plain beautiful to watch!
The addition of Pau Gasol has proven to be the final vital piece to completing the offense and looming in the background of course are Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza, two players who were both starting before succumbing to injuries. This is bad news for the rest of the NBA as the Los Angeles Lakers are dominating teams without Bynum and Ariza. One of the reasons for this, is the Lakers have the best bench in the league, bar none. Even with Mihm, Andrew Bynum and Ariza sidelined the Lakers second unit could probably win a lot of games if they were the starters.
At back up point guard, how many teams field starters that have played better then Jordan Farmar this year? 9.2 points, 2.8 assists and 1 steal in only 20 minutes a night, is a pretty solid contribution from a second year player who left college following his sophomore season. He’s also shooting a respectable 47% from the field, and 38% from three’s, and many of them were big shots in big games.
At shooting guard Sasha Vujacic has went from a guy afraid to shoot, to one of the best shooters in the league in one season. I always judge shooters by their ability to excel in the three shooting categories, namely field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point percentage. Sasha is currently at 47% from the field, 43% from threes and 86% from the free throw line. He only gets an average 15 minutes a game, but when he’s in there, he produces just about every time. He’s averaging 7.5 points and if you add that to Kobe’s 27, the Los Angeles Lakers are getting a lot of production from the shooting guard position.
At back up small forward with Lamar being the starter; the Lakers have two top choices at Phil Jackson’s disposal. A Laker veteran, who has always been a calming influence off the bench, has been Luke Walton. Luke has an all around game, but is another player that can shoot the three-ball, while running the offense as a point forward. Another choice when healthy is Trevor Ariza, who offers defense and athleticism.
At power forward the Lakers have the long distance shooting of Vladimir Radmanovich; He shoots 42% from the three point line, but can play decent low post, position defense. His ability to get open is largely because he is being guarded by power forwards who are not as comfortable on the perimeter. To his credit, he does a great job of taking advantage of it.
At center the Lakers are very comfortable trying to get Rony Turiaf as many minutes as possible. By far the Lakers toughest player, Rony has improved in three big areas since training camp as has been extremely influential in the success of the Lakers and the Lakers bench. Rony’s areas of improvement have been in rebounding, shot blocking and perimeter shooting. He has proven to be a player that the Lakers must re-sign in the off season.
Individually the stats are impressive, but it’s collectively where the magic really is with this group. Not only are they a good group of basketball players, but they have that camaraderie amongst themselves where they are truly a team. In a few months when the Lakers have a starting unit of Bynum and Gasol down low, Lamar at the three and Fisher and Kobe at the guards, plus that bench…..
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