westkoast #1 Kobe was not the main defender on Wade the entire game (he was actually guarding Wright too and Phil put Mo Evans on Wade much like he put Mo Evans on Vince Carter because Kobe was sick) but it was poor team defense that allowed Wade to go off. Poor rotations gave Wade alot of easy buckets and the AT&T defense got him to the line. Especially in that first quarter. Kobe was sick though and had been sick in the previous game the Lakers played in NJ.
Why not put Lockdown Kobe SG on Miamis SG? Mo Evans played 22 minutes. DWade played 41. Leaves about 20 minutes. Kobe was sick.
#2 Plenty of Lakers have racked up 5 fouls in 7 minutes. Lame attempt at baiting. You could have tried a little harder on this one. The reason Bynum was racking up fouls is that he often bites on head fakes and does not quite react quick enough to rotate on a number of plays.
Surely you can give Plenty of examples of Lakers racking up 5 in 7.
#4 Bynum has played more minutes because Kwame has got himself into foul trouble quite a bit in the last few weeks. Not to mention that Phil has been playing Bynum to motivate Kwame to block more shots. The Lakers entire second unit has been getting more playing time because they've been playing pretty well over the last 5-8 games. If you look at Farmar and Evans minutes you will see they have increased this month also. Since Bynum is the second units big man he has been inserted when the rest of the second unit comes in.
Why not play Bynum and Kwame at the same time for a spell? Has Phil tried that and how did it go?
Reality the simple answer, the one right in front of you, is because Kobe was sick. Wade is a pain enough to guard when you are 100% it is even more hard when you have an infection in your lungs. You know...the part of your body that helps you breathe?
Kobe Bryant played 37 minutes, so that actually left 16 or so minutes. Mo Evans was guarding Wade for the same reason Evans was guarding Vince Carter the game before.
The Lakers cannot play Kwame and Bynum at the same time against most of the teams they face. For one, Bynum tires pretty quickly still. Kwame also starts to really lose it when he plays heavy heavy minutes. Second, that usually pushes three shooters out of lineup, which in turn leaves less spacing for the big man that is in. If you have one of them at the 4 that means Vlade, Brian Cook, or Lamar Odom do not come in. Odom is out, so that is okay, however Brian and Vlade's jump shot helps spread the floor. The second unit loves to drive and kick. What good is driving and kicking if you don't have very many shooters?
[Reality] Why didn't they put Shaq on Bynum when he came in last night? [/Reality]
As for fouls, if you watched the game you would know that just the other day Kwame Brown had 3 fouls in about 5 minutes just the other day. Mark Madsen was notorious for fouling. Samaki Walker was also in the same category. Chris Mihm? That was one of the problems the Lakers had was that they were not deep enough and if Chris Mihm got into foul trouble they were pretty much screwed in the post. Do you know why most players, including non-lakers, don't get 5 fouls in 7 minutes? Because after a few they get benched. Since the Lakers are short handed on the glass they cannot afford to sit Bynum out a entire game.
