Howard/Gasol vs Bynum/Gasol
I think not-washed-up Odom had a lot to do with it. He helped by spelling each guy, splitting up their minutes in terms of being on-court together, helped space the floor with his passing and general versatility, and helped by covering the quicker bigs Pau and Bynum couldn't. Pau has never really been a PF, but the difference is that the Lakers then had pieces to work with to put their stars in better positions to maximize their effectiveness.
The championship Lakers were very long, a prime Gasol and near prime Odom frontcourt along with Bynum was too tall, too skilled and too athletic as a collective to deal with. Outside factors were Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant. The triangle suited those players much better than the current run n' gun system but also the Lakers defensively were much more soild, the 2010 squad gave up 97ppg as opposed to this season's 101.44ppg despite adding a 3 time defensive player of the year, the lack of direction from D'Antoni in terms of defensive spacing has been very poor.
Balance has been a big issue aswell, Kobehas been the primary offensive player and Gasol was the sidekick. Howard has now taken Gasol's place and he's now struggling to make the same impact, maybe they'll figure it out as the season goes on but time is running out.
Can someone pls explain to me how come Howard and Gasol doesnt "mesh well", but Gasol and Bynum did? I mean they won 2 championships with Gasol and Bynum down low. Bynum was hurt a lot so Gasol had the post to himself, but when it counted during the playoffs, Bynum was healthy, Bynum played, and he started alongside Gasol. Is it any doubt that it's the coaching staff failing?