Lakers @ Kings Game Thread, Wed 11/3, 7:30p

[Asaf]

Well I personally would love to see Carlos Arroyo try to guard Kobe. That dude couldn't even guard Israeli league scrubs, so I am sure it would be entertaining at least...

In other news, this is kind of related to the game thread since we have to watch those LeBron commercials about 20 times during each game now. It's even funnier if you watch the whole episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xoLB1d47O0

 

[rainmaker]

I can understand both sides of the arguement here. It makes complete sense to hide your star player until late in the game, and assure the team he stays out of foul trouble. Also keeps the star, in this case Tyreke, fresh on offense.

I also understand Westphal wanting to give Tyreke the experience of guarding Kobe, or another prolific player. It crossed my mind last night while watching the game, that coach might have done this to light a fire under Tyreke on defense. It's no secret one of the most common criticisms of Tyreke is that he's a lazy defender, and reaches too much. If Tyreke wants to become an MVP caliber player, which he does want to do, than he has to excel on both sides of the ball. Before last night, IMO Tyreke had one good defensive game where it appeared he was really busting his a** on that end of the floor. That was the 2nd half vs Toronto. Other than that, I think Tyreke has been coasting to a certian extent on the defensive end. Given it's early in the year, Westphal might have been thinking even if it hurts us in this game, it will help more in the long run, and that would be putting Tyreke on Kobe, and reminding Tyreke he still has a lot of work to do, and if he wants to get to that level and lead the Kings back to prominance, he'll have to step it up on the defensive end.

I also get the impression the Kings are planning on moving Tyreke fulltime to sg down the road. They are preparing him now. He's playing more and more off the ball, and as he improves his shooting and off the ball game, his time playing the 2 will only increase. Apparently the Kings were going hard after Daren Collison when NO was looking to move him, and that was reported by Amick this past summer. I don't put much stock in rumors, and he's in Indiana now anyway, but if a top pg becomes available at the deadline or next summer, I could see us trying to make a move. The Kings might be testing the waters so to speak with Tyreke at the 2. I did definitely get the impression Tyreke was guarding Kobe for the experience of it.

 

[BMiller52]

I can understand both sides of the arguement here. It makes complete sense to hide your star player until late in the game, and assure the team he stays out of foul trouble. Also keeps the star, in this case Tyreke, fresh on offense.

I also understand Westphal wanting to give Tyreke the experience of guarding Kobe, or another prolific player. It crossed my mind last night while watching the game, that coach might have done this to light a fire under Tyreke on defense. It's no secret one of the most common criticisms of Tyreke is that he's a lazy defender, and reaches too much. If Tyreke wants to become an MVP caliber player, which he does want to do, than he has to excel on both sides of the ball. Before last night, IMO Tyreke had one good defensive game where it appeared he was really busting his a** on that end of the floor. That was the 2nd half vs Toronto. Other than that, I think Tyreke has been coasting to a certian extent on the defensive end. Given it's early in the year, Westphal might have been thinking even if it hurts us in this game, it will help more in the long run, and that would be putting Tyreke on Kobe, and reminding Tyreke he still has a lot of work to do, and if he wants to get to that level and lead the Kings back to prominance, he'll have to step it up on the defensive end.

I also get the impression the Kings are planning on moving Tyreke fulltime to sg down the road. They are preparing him now. He's playing more and more off the ball, and as he improves his shooting and off the ball game, his time playing the 2 will only increase. Apparently the Kings were going hard after Daren Collison when NO was looking to move him, and that was reported by Amick this past summer. I don't put much stock in rumors, and he's in Indiana now anyway, but if a top pg becomes available at the deadline or next summer, I could see us trying to make a move. The Kings might be testing the waters so to speak with Tyreke at the 2. I did definitely get the impression Tyreke was guarding Kobe for the experience of it.

What if Steve Nash became available???

 

[Asaf]

I can understand both sides of the arguement here. It makes complete sense to hide your star player until late in the game, and assure the team he stays out of foul trouble. Also keeps the star, in this case Tyreke, fresh on offense.

I also understand Westphal wanting to give Tyreke the experience of guarding Kobe, or another prolific player. It crossed my mind last night while watching the game, that coach might have done this to light a fire under Tyreke on defense. It's no secret one of the most common criticisms of Tyreke is that he's a lazy defender, and reaches too much. If Tyreke wants to become an MVP caliber player, which he does want to do, than he has to excel on both sides of the ball. Before last night, IMO Tyreke had one good defensive game where it appeared he was really busting his a** on that end of the floor. That was the 2nd half vs Toronto. Other than that, I think Tyreke has been coasting to a certian extent on the defensive end. Given it's early in the year, Westphal might have been thinking even if it hurts us in this game, it will help more in the long run, and that would be putting Tyreke on Kobe, and reminding Tyreke he still has a lot of work to do, and if he wants to get to that level and lead the Kings back to prominance, he'll have to step it up on the defensive end.

I also get the impression the Kings are planning on moving Tyreke fulltime to sg down the road. They are preparing him now. He's playing more and more off the ball, and as he improves his shooting and off the ball game, his time playing the 2 will only increase. Apparently the Kings were going hard after Daren Collison when NO was looking to move him, and that was reported by Amick this past summer. I don't put much stock in rumors, and he's in Indiana now anyway, but if a top pg becomes available at the deadline or next summer, I could see us trying to make a move. The Kings might be testing the waters so to speak with Tyreke at the 2. I did definitely get the impression Tyreke was guarding Kobe for the experience of it.

I didn't know we tried to get Collison. That would've been amazing if we managed to somehow snatch him. I think he is going to be a superstar.

As for Tyreke, I think Westphal made a mistake by publicly saying that Tyreke is "already one of the best defenders in the league" after Tyreke's 5th or 6th game as a rookie. Not only was that statement far from being true, but when you say that about such a young player, they tend to think that they don't really need to seriously keep working on it (if I'm already that good now, I'll probably just naturally develop into a defensive-player-of-the-year level defender. no need to waste time actually working on it...). I think it has slowed down his development in that area. I've been saying this for a while, a young player is a young player. No matter how talented he is, he needs guidance to make sure he develops the MJ way and not the Iverson way (and certainly not the TMac way...). Giving him the ball and the keys to the team and telling him to just do his thing out there is not the way to do it, and in my opinion that was one of Westphals biggest mistakes. I think he is starting to realize it and we are starting to see glimpses of a little more controlled Tyreke. I thought the fourth quarter against Toronto was the smartest I've ever seen him play. He made very good decisions, and you could see that he is driving looking to go to the hole, but also with very clear awareness of where his teammates are and what options he has. I hope to see much more of that.