The times I did observe him in Chicago, it seemed like Thibs asked too much from him offensively, and the pressure put him out his comfort zone. If you go down the lineup of the Bulls, he was probably the 2nd best offensive option behind Derrick Rose. Couple that fact that Rose isn't the prototypical distributing guard that Booz was used to with Deron, it kind of threw him off. Now back on a team where he has low expectations, he's feeding off being the veteran, getting looks from Kobe because it looks like he trusts him on that pick and pop, and he's playing more aggressive. I'm not expecting big numbers from Carlos, but he's going to put up solid numbers and be another of those solid chemistry guys that makes the team fun to watch.
^^ Nice post Lakerfan2 and I agree with you. In Chi town they went away from his bread and butter, the pick and roll and pick and pop. He's more at ease doing that than straight posting up where he's usually undersized. He's got the good face up game in the post, but it's even better to get him moving off ball cutting to the hoop or open on the jumper after the pick.
And he's no slouch either. Even when Kobe was doing his thing in the baseline corner, which usually ends up with a Kobe fadeaway, Booz was moving off the ball and found himself the recipient of a nice pass from Kobe for either a foul or an easy bucket. Either way, he didn't just stop and watch Kobe, he cut, got inside position, and Kobe rewarded him. He's a pro.
Boozer is a quality add, and he's costing us so little it's ridiculous. I think he could post 15/8 this season without much difficulty. I've enjoyed his hustle, and I think the offense looks good with him on the court.
I've noticed this as well. He's constantly moving even if when Kobe is in isolation, which is nice to see since we're all used to players just watching Kobe doing his thing.
Boozer and Kobe worked out a pretty good chemistry already. Boozer isn't Pau or anything, but his intelligence has been refreshing. I was worried he wouldn't adapt, but he's been completely malleable to the situation and the team. Just a real professional.
Boozer adds another physical presence that was sorely lacking the past couple seasons. A big body that knocks people around, hits the boards, and has a nice mid range game. Essentially traded for Gasol with the Bulls paying him 12 mil of his 15 mil contract, and the Bulls having to tie up 3 years of salary to Gasol, this is a great move by the Lakers. We've all seen Gasol decline, become injury prone, as well as his lack of physicality, did we really want him for 3 more years? Boozer is now in a contract year needing to show he's got game left plus he's never injured, plays hard, and is a smart player giving Randle a mentor at the 4 to watch and learn from. Yeah his detractors point to his lack of athleticism, poor defense, but let's face it ...wasn't that the problem with Gasol too...?
Yes, and even worse, Gasol just wasn't giving effort. He was butt hurt and he wasn't getting over it. No way he would have survived Byron's tough love, nor his conditioning expectations. Can you imagine the whining he would have been doing about it? It was over for Pau. Booz isn't nearly as skilled or talented, but he plays harder with more grit and that's currently what the Lakers need. And as you said, Booz is motivated and such a cheap pickup right now.
Since when has Boozer been knocking people around and getting boards? I haven't been seeing that yet... I mean.. Booze is averaging 6 Rebounds per36... which is just... what. I've seen him get outhustled constantly so far on hustle plays too. And it's clear he isn't half the player he was in Utah anymore. I guess some people could've held onto the hope that Chicago was misusing him, but the fact that he seems to get blocked at the rim at least once or twice a game is a really bad sign. At this point, all Booze's game consists of are midrange Js and the occasional nice cut to the rim for a layup while playing terrible defense. All things considered, Booze is a mediocre-at-best starting PF at this point in his career and let's be real... this team with Pau would be A LOT better (Like clear 8th seed potential).
We simply need to keep him fresh&monitor his minutes IMO in order to give us his all to truly maximize his talent at this point in his career.
^^ Agreed, I've said it numerous times, of course Gasol is a more versatile and much more talented player than Booz. But his heart, mind and body left the building several years ago here. To me, at this point for this current roster Boozer actually represents a slight upgrade to Pau. The numbers may say different but my eyes say it's true for sure. I don't know about the long term prospects for Boozer. We will have to see how he does this year and how Randle develops, as well as what direction we go in re: free agency this summer.
I believe BOTH players needed a change of scenery. Yall both respectively are speculating. Lets wait&see how both players begin,start to gel with their teams. One thing is for sure though,we got a heck of a lot better bang for the buck w/Boozer instead IMO.
Not really speculating, but observing. Pau for the last three years, no matter what he demanded, more touches, playing in the post instead of pick and roll, never really got back into championship form for who knows why. Time and time again he constantly failed to get back to that level, despite putting up solid numbers. Defensively, as a center, he was literally invisible. Boozer has been pretty productive in preseason, and all signs point to him having good chemistry with everyone, that's the player he is. No one is expecting Carlos to go off, but rather, just play his game.
I definitely agree with you. I was watching the same thing last year when I had the chance&believe a lot of people were overreacting majorly acting like Gasol was an important piece to bring back..IMO it was past memories of him leading to that but he was regressing in his skills,was soft on D,started getting "loppy" w/the ball but you can argue he was out of place in the system but skills are skills. Maybe he has a bounce back year w/the Bulls playing along side Noah where Noah handles the paint&Gasol can play his finesse game,shooting the J which IMO is pretty much all he has these days(East is also weak in big men so he gets a bonus out of that).But again some will argue thats all Boozer has so lets see how the season comes along
I thought Booz put in a good effort last night. He is playing hard and while his D isn't great at least he's trying. He seems to be getting quite a bit of hate here and on Game Time thread, but I don't feel it's commensurate with his play. Last night he shot over 50%, and had 17 and 7.
^^^^ The countless offensive boards he gave up to Terrence freaking Jones ... to get rebounds when you don't box out AND don't jump is difficult ... His numbers may look good in some games but he has little positive impact on both sides
