Thursday, July 07, 2005
Lakers Draft and Odds and Ends
Andrew Bynum, Ronny Turiaf, and Von Wafer. Two out of three ain't bad. Although I am a little suspect about the Bynum kid but I guess he's more for the long term plans than for next season. Ronny Turiaf is probably my favorite pick out of the lot. I could see him being the Luke Walton of the 2005-06 Lakers, pace changer, playmaker (not necessarily big play maker but effective). Can you guess who my least favorite pick is.....Von 'who the hell is this' Wafer. It was a bit disturbing when the choice was made and the commentators chided in with 'He probably won't even make the team'. There's a blow to the ol' confidence level....
Speaking of Luke Walton, in this article, Luke is discussing his restricted free agent status. I like Luke. Who doesn't like Luke? I'm not sure if I like his consideration of talking to other teams to force a bid war for his services tactic. I understand it's best for him and I would no doubt do the same thing. But Luke's stock in my book began to fall this past season when in New York I think it was Kobe passed him the ball after collapsing the defense with less than 5 seconds in the game and down by 1 or 2. Instead of making (or even attempting) a lay-up, Luke passes the ball back to Kobe whose momentum has taken him to the corner....don't even get a shot off. At that point, I think I stopped letting my genuine 'like' for the guy excuse his play.
Speaking of Luke Walton, in this article, Luke is discussing his restricted free agent status. I like Luke. Who doesn't like Luke? I'm not sure if I like his consideration of talking to other teams to force a bid war for his services tactic. I understand it's best for him and I would no doubt do the same thing. But Luke's stock in my book began to fall this past season when in New York I think it was Kobe passed him the ball after collapsing the defense with less than 5 seconds in the game and down by 1 or 2. Instead of making (or even attempting) a lay-up, Luke passes the ball back to Kobe whose momentum has taken him to the corner....don't even get a shot off. At that point, I think I stopped letting my genuine 'like' for the guy excuse his play.
