Get on Point

By: Alex Jimenez

We’re approaching the sixty game benchmark and it seems the same problem that was supposed to be our minor blemish has swelled into quite a rash.

We heard it all pre-season about our twin seven footers, Pau’s emergence on the defensive end last post-season, Andrew’s health allowing him to successfully play off of Pau’s face up game on the blocks, Ron’s outside shooting and perimeter defense adding a needed dynamic, Lamar’s length and unique versatility off the bench, and did I mention the security of having arguably the best basketball player in the game today.

Yet there was still a minor flaw that provided the rest of the league some sort of hope in being the David to our Goliath: defending the point.

Fisher plays serviceable team defense, provides a necessary veteran presence on the court, and occasionally knocks down three pointers, and Farmar offers instant adrenaline off the bench, yet the elephant in the room when addressing their strengths is that neither are quality one on one defenders.

It gets painful at times watching them attempt to play catch up with guards like Ty Lawson, Deron Williams, or Tony Parker who just flash by Fisher and break off Farmar. Concern emerges when there is great likelihood that we will see at least on of the previously mention point guards in the playoffs.

With all of the horse power this team has we all thought it would be inconsequential, yet we are continuously being exposed by smaller, quicker guards that become the catalyst in being our downfall in each and every loss.

I am not exclaiming that it is time to declare “emergency”, nor do I question that we are still the best team in the league, the title will still run through Los Angeles, but had we added a player like Hinrich, Watson, or even Marcus Banks at the trade deadline, it may have helped us Laker faithful sleep better at night if we expect to acquire our second straight, and sixteenth overall purple and gold branded title.

Laker nation, what I am asking is when does a big enough question produce a call to action? I am aware we are over the cap, and it is evident we have enough fire to win the championship again this year. But it sure would have made me more comfortable had an additional desired player been the needed ingredient to develop from a competitive fire into a champion’s inferno.

Time To Give It A Rest?

- Shohei T.

The question is brought up time and time again: Should Kobe keep playing or should he rest and let his injuries heal?

To put it into perspective, Kobe has had a sprained left ankle, back spasms, and a fracture to his index finger of his shooting hand; not to mention the torn ligament in his pinky finger, also on his shooting hand. The main focus, though, has been his fractured index finger.

For most players in the league, that’s an automatic trip to surgery and rehabilitation, but Kobe’s not like most players. He’s put off surgery multiple times and has carried the Lakers to two NBA Finals appearances and an Olympic gold medal to boot. He’s a workhorse and feels it’s in his right to keep playing.

But as the injuries keep piling up and an NBA championship to defend, Kobe’s health is more important to the Lakers than ever before.

In my opinion and in many other Lakers fans’ I’m sure, Kobe should rest his body, rehab that finger of his and be ready to go come playoff time.

With the team he has around him, why shouldn’t he?

The Lakers are stacked across the board in terms of offense, defense and coaching. In Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum you have two big men who can give you points and rebounds night in and night out. The bench, though very erratic at times during the season, can hold its own with Lamar Odom leading the way. And in Ron Artest, you have a guy who will buckle down on defense and, on a good night, give you 15, 20 points.

The only question marks remain is the spotty play of Bynum Andrew Bynum. Bynum has put up decent numbers, but he hasn’t shown the ability to bring the intensity every game. More troubling is Bynum’s inability to be effective when he and Gasol are on the floor at the same time.

If the Lakers can improve on their consistency, they shouldn’t miss a beat with Kobe out of the line-up.

Worst case scenario: The Lakers don’t get the first seed in the Western Conference and lose out on home-court advantage. But with a rested and healthy Kobe Bryant, it shouldn’t matter. Just having a healthy Kobe playing is like having home-court advantage.

But will the rest come? Highly unlikely, although we saw signs after Kobe voluntarily sat out for the game against Portland, a game which the Lakers won, snapping a 9-game losing streak at Portland.

With that said, the Lakers’ run to the championship will go as far as Kobe’s broken finger can take them.

The future wears #17...?

The current Lakers squad is clearly potent enough to cement a new dynasty and complete Phil Jackson’s fourth three-peat by winning 2 more titles. The core of the team is in their primes, as well as experienced beyond their years. Bryant remains simply the best on the planet and Gasol is quickly cementing his status as the best power forward in the league (yes, I am aware that Duncan and Garnett still play), not to mention the 6’9’’ Zen master on the bench. For the next five years, Mitch Kupchak can lounge on a beach in the Caribbean and just marvel at the team he assembled.
But trouble lurks around the corner, even if few are ready to look that far down the road. The future of this team must be established, and the young talent on the team is scarce at best.
In forming this team, the Lakers have virtually guaranteed no influx in young talent for a number of years, due to trades and draft position. For the next few years the team will likely be unable to obtain any young and groomable prospects. The Lakers have one semblance of a future, and it would be beneficial for the team, now and in the future, if the team began focusing more energy on preparing Andrew Bynum to one day be the leader of the Lakers when Kobe is done.
In a few years, the current team will begin their decline and the torch must be passed on to a the next generation. This starts with finding a player, one who a team can be built around, who will lead the Lakers years down the road. And seeing as the Lakers will likely draft at the bottom of rounds for years to come, the best hope the Lakers have rests on the shoulders of the #17 in the middle. Andrew Bynum truly has the potential to be the best center in the West and the cornerstone of any growing team. Whether he grows into this player depends on management, fate, and Bynum himself.
With all the questions surrounding Big Drew, it may seem hopeless to think that he will one day lead the Lakers. But this must be the mindset of Lakers’ organization and fan base. He is clearly the best hope for a player around which to build the next Lakers team, and he must be trained for that role now.
A simple look at the age breakdown of the team shows that, a few years from now, the entire core of this team will fall victim to father time: Kobe=31, Pau=29, Odom=30, Artest=30, Fisher=35. The team is comprised of athletes at the peaks of their career or past it (in Fisher’s case), who a few years down the line will all see a serious drop in productivity. Drew is the best hope to pick up the slack. At 22, Bynum still has plenty of good years and further growth in front of him, assuming his body allows it.
For the purpose of this article, let’s assume that Bynum will not become a perpetual injury case that many believe him to be. I am aware that this is a real possibility, and if he becomes Greg Oden then all arguments in this article will prove moot. This is where fate is taken into account. But in the spirit of the holiday season, I choose to take a hopeful and optimistic view of Bynum’s future.
Anyone who has followed Bynum’s career has to be impressed by his length, developing strength, offensive array, and defensive prowess. If Dwight Howard did not exist, Bynum would be a shoe-in for top center of the future. In a previous generation, having a top 5 center who was only the 3rd best player on his team would be absurd. Bynum has shown that he has the capability to take over a game and dominate. At two points in his career, Bynum came out of his shell and showed the NBA what he could do.
During the 07-08 season Bynum exploded, finally showing the potential that all Lakers fans had hoped to one day see. His improved offense array, defense presence, and overall tenacity finally shown through.
For a brief period in 08-09, he regained his dominance and quickly became a nightly 20-10 threat, as demonstrated by his 42 point, 15 rebound game against the Clippers. For one small five-game span, he was the best center in the league. And for those who saw him, they know this is no exaggeration.
But beyond the statistics, during these periods he suddenly became freakishly dominant, explosive around the basket on both ends of the floor, and developed a killer mentality. He would rarely settle for a jump shot or hook, but aggressively attacked the basket, getting high percentage looks, hard rebounds, and putback dunks. And beyond that his defense was far sounder, becoming a shot-blocking machine. But as all know, unfortunately, both of these potential breakthroughs were halted by injury.
His promising start to this season showed flashes of his potential, but his recent slump has reignited concern about his future. On many NBA teams besides the Lakers, he would be the focal point of the offense and the backbone of a developing team. And yet on this team, due to his injury history, his occasional defensive absent-mindedness, and penchant to foul often, he has become the third or fourth option after a great start to the season.
Even on the short term, it would be better for the Lakers this season if more energy was put into developing Bynum and stimulating another breakthrough. Kobe and Gasol have, for the most part, both played their part in trying to get Bynum the ball more this season, and Bynum himself has admittedly been inconsistent, despite brief flashes of his potential. He seems tentative to go up strong and release his killer aggressiveness, possibly because he fears injuring his knees again. He just doesn’t have the same spring, and he needs to regain that, soon.
But beyond that, it still seems Phil has lost some faith Bynum. I can see no other explanation for his refusal to put Bynum in at the end of the game. The philosophy around a team should be that the starting 5 is the best 5-man team you can assemble. This unit should be on the floor at the beginning and end of the game.
Yet consistently, the lineup at the end of the game features Odom instead of Bynum. Occasionally this is due to Bynum’s penchant for foul trouble, but nonetheless he still gets relatively few chances to end games. How can Andrew gain confidence in his ability if his own coach treats him like an end-of-the-game liability? And frankly, even the most diehard Lakers fan cannot say that Odom brings more to the table than Bynum, and he certainly does not have the upside.
This team has won gone to two finals and brought home one trophy. During that time, their potential all-star center either sat injured or played an insignificant role, basically hibernating on the bench waiting to bloom. For two years Lakers fans have dreamed of the completed Lakers team.
It’s finally time to realize this potential.

Zac S.

Ron-nnesy...Growing up?

The inevitable finally happened. The Lakers knew what to expect when they offered their Trevor Ariza money to the volatile but statistically better Ron Artest. The same Ron Artest responsible for the infamous brawl at the Palace, one of the worst fights in sports history. The same Ron Artest known as Thug Raider, the Queensbridge native that asked for time off to tour and promote his CD, My World. The same Ron Artest that worked at Best Buy his rookie year…to receive a discount?

Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers saw it differently though. They saw it as the same Ron Artest that was an All-Star not too long ago. The same Ron Artest that won Defensive Player of the Year. The SAME Ron Artest that led a depleted Rockets team to seven games against the Lakers last year.

Yeah he’s a little…whats the word, crazy? No, no that can’t be it, cause Ron-Ron’s got a point.

 “I know that’s what they say, but we’re all crazy. When white people have fun, what do they do? They drink and bang their heads and they grab you and go, ‘Come on, Ron! Let’s go!’ I’m like, ‘Now, these mother­------- are crazy!”

It’s easy to judge and point fingers at Artest’s antics and call the man crazy…okay its really easy to judge and point fingers at Artest’s antics and call the man crazy, but you can’t question the man’s heart.

“Certain things aren’t worth your career, but nothing is worth selling your soul for.” The Lakers knew what they were getting when they signed Artest to a long-term deal. A combustible but fiery defensive specialist with some offensive firepower, but also all of his extra baggage, and Artest has yet to fail to deliver both. Recently, Artest sparked controversy saying that he used to drink Hennesy during halftime when he was on the Chicago Bulls. That’s the key word though, used to drink. Now I know, that in itself is nothing to be proud of, but it sure seems like Ron is finally growing up. “I (still) party and have fun, but not like I used to,” admitted the Lakers star.

Prior to the season, Ron recently reached out to the man that threw the beer at him sparking the infamous brawl at the Palace, only to apologize and talk as “friends”…Friends?! You heard me, friends. When asked why, he responded “it’ll be something for people to understand when you fight with one another, you can always become friends, you don’t have to hold a grudge for the remainder of your life…”

Say what you want to say about the man, but he shines in the limelight, and theirs no denying he is one of the most real players to EVER play professional sports. His honesty is unheard of, and shocking, because no one wants to tell you the truth, especially celebrities, who must live perfect lives under the microscopes we watch them under.

 Ron has really flourished and capitalized on his so far small stay in Hollywood, and so have the fans. How can they not? Artest reached out to John Green, the man who threw the beer at him in Detroit, through one of his three Twitter accounts, promising to take the person out to lunch if they gave him John’s number. Artest has given away free tickets to fans, and has even made friends with a family through Twitter.

All this aside, how’s he playing is what it all comes down to. Artest said before the season, if the Lakers don’t win the title this year, “it’s on me.” Well, Phil wants him to shoot more, and with good reason. Sure Artest is averaging five less points since last year, but he is also shooting five less shots as opposed to last year, while also shooting six percent better from the field. He has looked a bit passive, but that is due to his obvious admiration for teamwork, and his desire not to interrupt the already offensively potent Lakers. Artest has been brought in for the obvious reason of defense, and is doing his part. Making sure no single player beats this team, and has led them to a number 1 ranking in defense throughout the league. Ron Artest is a very talented character, but most importantly, everything he says is genuine and real. The man is made for Hollywood, and how the Laker’s script ends up will fall in Artest’s hands, and how he chooses to write it.  

 By: Cyrus Mehrfar, to follow, visit www.cmoney116.blogspot.com