If anything’s been made clear over this past week regarding our team’s stellar play, it’s not that we don’t need Kobe – it’s that we don’t need Bynum. So… Bynum for Bosh right? Not quite. Think less raptor, and more bull. What? Chicago Bull. Make that bulls.
For the last several years, many Laker fans have fanatically clamored for the services of Kirk Hinrich, and only up until this year have the stars come as close to aligning as they ever have before in this pursuit. The Lakers now have at their ready-disposal the expiring deals of both Morrison and Farmar while the Bulls have on their end a strong desire to clear some extra salary cap space for this summer’s free agent fest. And in all actuality, adding a capable defender and solid shooter like Hinrich would only further cement our Championship-repeating chances and alleviate some of our deficiencies in speedy-point-guard-defense.
But my question is… why stop with one Captain? Could it be, in our mad haste and obsession with the Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, we’ve totally forgotten about another effective captain who was once able to man his own ship full of wild animals in the midst of a great storm? Why yes, I’m talking about that crazy, animal-loving-son-of-a-gun, Noah. Joakim that is.
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My preciousss… ring.
Finger This Out: Four and one — that would be the Lakers’ most recent record on their first extensive road trip of the season. It could also just as easily describe the number of healthy fingers Kobe Bryant’s been working with on his right hand in comparison to the one bummy finger that he’s been forced to adjust to on the very same hand.
More significantly, however, four and one might better allude to the obsessive image that’s taken captive of Mamba’s mind ever since last season ended – the image of the four rings he’s won and the one ring he still has left to claim for the season. And if his performance on this past road trip was any indication, there was clearly only one finger on Kobe’s mind the entire time – his fifth-ring finger.
Needless to say, starting out a road-trip with your best player’s prized index finger fractured and overly-padded is never an encouraging sign for any team.
Fortunately, this is the Lakers we’re talking about, and the best player in discussion here just so happens to be the best player for every other team out there as well. So despite fracturing his index finger against the Minnesota Timberwolves last Friday, Kobe Bryant sucked it up like he did a year ago; when his pinkie was falling off and converted some of that pain he had to endure through into pain that his opponents could never withstand.
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KB: “Yeah, and aside from Gasol, Bynum, and LO, I too also play for the Lakers!!”
Artest: “You do?! Damnn, we’re that good?!”
So apparently D.J. Mbenga really, and I mean really, likes to shoot mid-range jump shots. Why? I have absolutely no clue. At times it seems as though he just erroneously comes to this horribly misled conclusion that he needs to help pick up the scoring slack behind Kobe and carry this young, offensively challenged team (Yeah Right!) all on his own. Well, I don’t care if he makes 10 jump shots in a row, I will never trust D.J. Mbenga with that shot… unless he’s blocking himself and the ball ricochets off to any other Laker player for a better shot. Stick with the blocks, Deej – that’s one area you can let yourself get carried away with all you want (especially on all the Kenyon Martins of this world).
Anyway, with that little vent out of the way, let’s move on to the more significant developments of the preseason – LIKE BLAKE GRIFFIN ABSOLUTELY ERASING D.J. MBENGA’S LIFE with a thunderous dunk during the Lakers/Clippers Staples shoot-out! Okay, okay, I’ll lay off Congo Cash. Promise.
So as the Lakers wrapped up their preseason run this past Friday against the Denver Nuggets to finish 6-2, Laker fans across the nation were finally afforded a more complete and tangible picture of the potential damage and firepower this Laker team has to offer up to the rest of the league this upcoming season.
While most of our previous theories were confirmed, there were still some surprisingly welcome, new developments that came to the forefront as well that exceeded even our own expectations.
Here’s a mini-recap of all the players and events that proved noteworthy of mention in my mind this preseason…
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You knew people were going insane without Laker basketball when the latest Laker-related news coming out of September had Ron Artest singing (and I use the term loosely) Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” on the karaoke magic mic and Lamar Odom suddenly passing a different, more expensive, kind of rock to Khloe Kardashian after only a few weeks of ‘practice’.
Yes, as captivating and riveting as all that random, superfluous news has been, us Laker fans have now finally reached a crucial boiling point that has left us all exasperatedly asking, “Can we please see some real Adam Morrison basketball?!!” Ok fine, that’s just me, but I’m pretty sure we’re all on the same page in our longings for some real NBA basketball to digest.
Well, October is finally here and we’ve effectively moved on to… prancing ponies. Thank Lamar Odom and your mom for that one. With media day finished and training camp underway and 2K10, fantasy basketball, and preseason still to come – we’ve got a large influx of real NBA ‘stuff’ pony-galloping our way in the near future. As preseason ball gets ready to tip off in just a few days, the NBA analyst in all of us is primed and ready to resurface and begin assessing.
So to kick it off the right way, here’s a little precursor-to-preseason guide presenting the top 5 most important issues to keep an eye on this upcoming preseason…
1. On-Court Chemistry -
The biggest question that looms (and has been looming since the beginning of summer) is, of course, how well Ron Artest will fit into the lineup as the new starting small forward for your Los Angeles Lakers.
Ron will most likely play out on the wings whenever Bynum and Pau are on the floor and play more on the block, to take advantage of his strength and size, whenever the Lakers go small. With Kobe, Bynum, and Pau all drawing most of the defensive attention, Ron Artest will have free reign at those wide-open three pointers Trevor Ariza was able to take advantage of all last year.
What inevitably may end up happening during pre-season is that we’ll see an overcompensating Ron Artest who’ll look to overly pass and be unselfish to a turnover-fault. Don’t worry though – I’m sure we’ll see him hoist up at least one or two wacky shots that will have us all chuckling in silliness (for now).
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