Showtime About Time
Are the Lakers for real? ESPN.com's J.A. Adande ponders that very question in his column here:
Having watched the second half of their Christmas day matchup with the Phoenix Setting Suns, I'm inclined to agree.
No one has questioned the depth and talent of this year's team (well, except Kobe Bryant), but what's most revealing from Tuesday's win was the determination and energy in the team's level of play.
Andrew Bynum may actually turn into a very solid big man, although I'll reserve comparisons to past Laker greats (Wilt, Kareem, Shaq) until he posts a string of 20/10s over a few seasons.
The Lakers have a future playmaker in Jordan Farmar who is clearly benefiting from the veteran leadership of PG Derek Fisher. Trevor Ariza is materializing into a sound pick-up from the Magic. If Phil can get Kwame and Vladimir to show up for each game and if Lamar Odom embraces his inner Pippen, you've got talent to spare.
Now throw in the hustle and flow of Luke Walton, Ronny Turiaf, and Sasha Vujacic along with the league's best player in Kobe (who has at least 3-4 seasons of that kind of dominance left in him) into the mix, what do you get? You have the make-up of a highly competitive team that could push the top teams in the West to the brink in a seven game.
It's early, but I like their chances.
2 comments:
This game was really fun to watch. Tons of highlights. Games like this one make you wish the NBA season was shorter and the playoff spots reduced.
High class whores.
NBA players.
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