Quote:
Originally Posted by derek
Howard is not better offensively than Bynum and is very foul prone...he also can't shoot FTs....He might be better defensively, but against the Spurs, Duncan is a good perimeter shooter that can force Howard to come out and defend him on the perimeter which allows Parker to drive to the hoop at will. The Spurs really feared Bynum more because of his size. With their speed, they can handle Howard w/o a double team that Bynum required.
The Lakers also have new players which takes time to develop any chemistry if there is any. Add to that Howard won't be back till January too. This season is a wash for the Lakers.
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Things don't occur in a vacuum. The 2nd best player on the Magic last year was Ryan Anderson, who put up 16/8/1a on 44% shooting.
Bynum had Kobe and Gasol to draw attention, two players that are much better than Anderson.
You should also consider that the addition of Nash makes everyone much harder to guard.
He can't shoot FTs, so he may be subbed in / out offense / defense late late game; I don't think this is a massive deal.
Howard is by far the best PnR defender in the league, he has the speed / length to show on shooters and still get back for dribble penetration. This is the area where the swap will show it's greatest effect. Bynum was positively woeful defending the PnR; he was big, sure, but he had no foot speed (just watch some tape of him jogging end to end).
I don't know who can really get away with double teaming this team anyways, Kobe / Nash / Gasol are all deadly jump shooters (Metta has his moments as well).