FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.
The Lakers are coming off of a championship season, and are the favorites to take home the title again in 2010. But with the virtual trade of Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest, along with the media circus created by Lamar Odom's whirlwind marriage to a reality television personality, they've certainly inserted enough wild cards into their stacked deck to make even the most die-hard of fans question the team's ability to repeat as champions.
Player to Watch: Andrew Bynum | More Team Previews
Thankfully, the combination of Phil Jackson at the helm and Kobe Bryant on the floor should be enough to keep the Lakers' ship on course for at least another trip back to the Finals.
The acquisition of Artest will be questioned until the team produces wins with him in the lineup, but as much as Lakers fans took to Ariza, the fact is Artest is a better, more complete player than Ariza is at this stage of their respective careers.
Of course, Ariza was a shy, hustle-on-both-ends-of-the-court team player, whereas Artest has a history of, for lack of a better term, "going rogue" at the most inopportune times.
Apparently Artest was much more of a problem in Houston last season than the team let on at the time, breaking plays on the floor to get his own shots up, and having several minor issues with team management behind the scenes. But none of that is likely to occur in Los Angeles without a very public tongue lashing from either Bryant on the court, or Jackson through the media.
Keeping Artest in line is one of the keys to the Lakers being able to remain the league's champions at season's end, and time will tell whether or not the championship aspirations will be enough to hold Ron-Ron's attention long enough to stay focused for an entire season. But there are other keys to a successful campaign as well, not the least of which is the health and development of Andrew Bynum.
Ziller goes more in depth on Bynum here, but it's worth mentioning how important he is to the team's chances of repeating, especially with all of the size that's been added to the contenders of the Eastern Conference.
Bynum has broken down in each of the last two seasons, but remember, in the five games before going down with a knee injury a year ago, the kid averaged just over 26 points and just under 14 rebounds per game. That's beast mode, people, and if he can regain that form (as he's done in this preseason), the Lakers are going to be very, very tough to beat.
But of course, Lakers fans have been hoping to see Bynum dominate inside for a while now. The team won it all with him being an ancillary player a season ago; anything above and beyond that this year will be a welcome bonus.
There are additional concerns for L.A., mainly in terms of the physical toll that playing deep into the postseason the last two years has taken on the team's veterans. Pau Gasol already has hamstring issues, and is questionable for the season opener. Besides playing in the Finals each of the last two seasons, Gasol had a busy summer, while leading Spain to a Eurobasket championship.
The team is mostly intact, though, and even if they for some reason don't manage to finish with the top record in the conference, this is a veteran club that doesn't need home court advantage in the playoffs to advance to the later rounds.
It all comes down to how well Artest will fit in with a team that's defending its championship, and that's looking to take home another one. If Artest can be better than Ariza -- which, on paper, appears to be the case -- you can pencil the Lakers in for their third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.
And barring anything unusual happening, L.A. will likely finish the season at the top of the NBA heap for the second straight season.
Last Season By the Numbers
Record: 65-17. Finished first in the Pacific Division, and first in the Western Conference -- by a whopping 11 games. Beat the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals to take home the franchise's 15th NBA championship.
Offense: 112.8 points per 100 possessions, 3rd in the NBA. 6th in shooting, 5th in turnover rate, 3rd in offensive rebounding, 21st in free throw rate.
Defense: 104.7 points allowed per 100 possessions, 6th in the NBA. 8th in shooting defense, 6th in opponent turnover rate, 17th in defensive rebounding, 6th in opponent free throw rate.
Top Performers: Kobe Bryant took home the Finals MVP, and led the team in scoring with 27.8 points per game. Pau Gasol was the leader in rebounding, with an average of 9.6 per game, but Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum weren't far behind with their averages of 8.2 and 8.0 respectively. Bryant led the team in assists with almost five per game.
All statistics via Basketball-Reference.com.
Player to Watch
FanHouse's Matt Moore and Tom Ziller preview one player to watch from each team. Here's a snippet of Ziller's post on Andrew Bynum. The reason we can discount Bynum's fourth season without seeing the numbers is because he doesn't put up gaudy numbers. On the season, he averaged 14.3 points, 8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks -- solid but not particularly special on the surface. But underneath it all, when you account for minutes and Bynum's role on the stacked Lakers, it's so impressive.
Bynum, who had a very efficient 59.3 percent True Shooting mark last season, used up more possessions than ever last year. This is the leap centers have trouble making -- from bit player/garbage man on offense, to featured player. Dwight Howard is the exception; Samuel Dalembert, Andris Biedrins, Darko Milicic ... even Chris Kaman are the rule. The Lakers had no real need for Bynum to expand his usage rate, with a line-up featuring Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant. Bynum was not thrust into a featured role. But he took it, and he succeeded. That bodes well for his future, when he very well may need become the team's offensive star.
See Tom Ziller's full post on Andrew Bynum.
Offseason Tracker
IN: Ron Artest (free agency), Chinemelu Elonu (draft).
OUT: Trevor Ariza (free agency).
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Let's see.... all the reasons the poor Lakers won't be there. Pau Gasol already has hamstring issues, Ron Artest is a headcase, Andrew Bynum is injury prone, we lost Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odoms' marriage is a distraction. Is it me, or are these reasons pretty insignificant? Pau is basically just resting and he's young, not old like that other superstar in Boston who had surgery, Bynum is injury prone, but he's a beast now, he's healthy and freak injuries can happen to anybody, Ron Artest has been a model citizen since his suspension, took a pay cut to be in L.A., grew up with Lamar Odom and does'nt launch three's and pick up technicals like some other aging guy who was picked up in Boston (he won't be a problem-matter of fact, in the preseason, he has been the Lakers best passer and defender), Trevor was an athletic role player who can easily be replaced, hell he's struggling in Houston right now and Lamar's "whirlwind (where did he get that? )marriage will probably settle him down, marriage is'nt a distraction, it's very calming, I wish him well. The Laker's have no real injury issues,they are young, extremely talented, have the guy who I still feel is the best player, one of the All-time best coaches and added a guy who has been the defensive player of the year and is hungry as hell for a championship. It was preseason true, but in last nights game against Denver, the disparity in alent was shocking, and the Lakeshow played without Bynum and Gasol. That's right, I said it, I'm predicting repeat for my boys out of LA against Cleveland in the NBA championship. Kobe against Lebron and Shaq, while Boston, Orlando and San Antonio set at home watching.
Can't be stopped. The team is too talented even if they're affected by injuries.
Yeah, but they're pretty good at stopping themselves.
DUDE, I LIKE YOUR FLOW !!!!!
Lamar Odom`s whirlwind publicity stunt, with a pre-nuptual agreement, isn`t likely to distract him or the team. Not like it was a real marriage, strictly a made for UNreality tv role. The Lakers seem in great shape to repeat as western conference champs, barring the unforseeable. Bryant is shooting poorly in the early season, but that is the part of his game one should worry about least. The Lakers are weak after Gasol, out injured, Odom, Bynum, Artest, and Bryant, though. None of the next four, Farmer, Brown, Powell, or Fisher, is playing all that well. So the Lakers clearly need to practice some with Artest and Bryant paired in the backcourt, and Odom and Gasol paired at forward. Half of first marriages hold together. But even half of real marriages, much less publicity stunts, are cheated on and end in divorce an average of five times each. And publicity stunts are even less commited to each other. The Cavs have gotten off to a bad start, but Shaq and LeBron colead their team in rebounds, and are in their top five in scoring, while Varajao isn`t. Dan Gibson, of the bench, has been doing his Delont "Wild" West impression and been in their top five in scoring. This early in the season, teams off to sluggish starts aren`t suffering from age, especially if they have new faces, they are suffering from not blending well yet. The Lakers only have one notable new face, a swing man who has swung before, Artest. And yes, despite having been a bit too feisty early in his career, eventually the hype about that became exaggerated, while he has actually be reasonably mature in recent seasons, which will hopefully continue. It`ll be a little while before we can get a clear reading on the changes to Cleveland and Orlando, beyond the probability they`ll be in the top three in the east again, with Boston, it it`ll take a while to likewise guess how well or poorly specific match ups might go, in trying to guess how the championship might go. Certainly would have helped Cleveland if they had continued starting Hickson not Varajao, like the did in preseason, but Hickson was one of their leaders in preseason, and hasn`t gotten enough time so far in the regular season, and Varajao didn`t do much in the preseason, and though he is starting, hasn`t done vastly more in the regular season, nor would I expect him to. But the Cavs do need to worry about whether they can cross match speed vs. size, if Gasol plays forward when he gets back, as is the current plan. I think the Cavs are the most unclear as to who that second starting forward will be of the division champion contenders.
I heard Phil Jackson got thrown under the Buss (Jeannie that is)
"Bynum has broken down each of the last two seasons."
I guess you're right if you call a guy falling into your knee breaking down.
LOL @ angryguy. Your Celtics aren't even getting past the Cavs or Orlando.
Barring Kobe going down to some injury that keeps him out the rest of the season, Lakers are AT LEAST making it to the Finals this year, where they will meet the Cavs and win in 6. Ron Artest was a smart move. This guy wants to win a Championship and will put his ego aside to play with a Championship team. Mark my words. He will behave. Phil Jackson is a master at taking head cases and turning them into productive team players. Also Kobe is running the locker room as always, and the two of them are cool in that Kobe can get him to chill.
You mean the orl team that we took to 7 with a banged up team that hasnt really improved? Or the cavs team that isn't anywhere close to as deep as boston is? They are comming for you softies, just make sure you get by SA first
well 3 peat maybe is around the corner, KOBE the greatest player ever...
Its going to be the Lakers again to be the team
in the finals. And I bet its going to be against Cleveland this time. Even w/Shaq, the Lakers are
a bette all round team and no matter what they say about Lebron, Kobe is the man.............
i think that the nba finals will go down to the Celtics vs Lakers.Clearly I'm a Cavs fan, but shaq is getting to old for comfort.Also the Celtics acquired Rasheed Wallace so.
Just got my Sports Illustrated NBA Preview Double Issue (October 26, 2009). Their predictions:
.
Eastern Conference Finals:
Celtics over Cavaliers
.
Western Conference Finals:
Lakers over Spurs
.
NBA Finals:
Celtics over Lakers
.
that's exactly the result of the 2007-2008 season.Here's the way I predict things
Lakers over Rockets
Celtics over Magic
Lakers over Celtics
The only thing Sports Illustrated knows is bikini babes. Lakers all the way. The Celtics are too old, Shaq is over the hill by a few years and Orlanda gave up too much to get Vince Carter. Only the Spurs have a shot of stopping Kobe & Co.
"Orlanda gave up too much to get Vince Carter. "
I guess Vince was useless for this Magic franchise first undefeated preseason. Check his stats. Orlando to me is the deepest team in the league, no other team out there comes close. Magic last year would have been up 3-1 if it werent for them beating themselves in those two overtimes losses. Thanks to Courtney lee's missed alley-oop lay-up. Vince would have dunked a play like that. Also thanks to Hedo's missed free throws in game 4. Yeah, Orlando gave up too much for losing those two.
@ angryguy77
Hasn't improved? Celtics are basically the only elite team that HASN'T improved. They got Rasheed the old ticking timebomb. That was their big pick-up and he has shown hes gonna be nothing more than a 10 points per game guy. Cavs got Shaq, Orlando got Carter, both of which are performing excellently. Lakers got Artest who will prove himself as being reliable on the offensive end and excellent on the defensive end. Celtics are coming back with a bunch of old guys. GOOD LUCK CELTICS, you are going to need it. Spurs will be good this year but don't have the answers to beat the Lakers. This team lost to the MAVS 4-1 and they are all getting older.
So T, Rasheed was not a good pickup because he's a "ticking timebomb"? I guess that would make Artest a nuclear bomb.
Rasheed has had his share of arguments with the refs, but the difference is that he always gets along with his teammates. He's not a locker room problem. Artest, on the other hand, has been a problem with his teammates and coaches. Now we are hearing that he wasn't a good soldier in Houston, either.
You're also forgetting that the Celtics have added Kevin Garnett. Garnett missed 26 games, plus all the playoffs. Despite this, they ended up with 62 wins and almost beat the Eastern Conference champs, Orlando, before losing 4 games to 3.
With Garnett, they would have had the most wins in the NBA and would have easily cruised by Orlando. Now he's back, which makes the Celtics the MOST improved team.
Angrydude, Garnett is a punk in fishnets. Anthony Peeler smoked him in a fight. Now he is 'Gimpy Garnet'. You punks won't get out of the East. Howard and Shaq out thug you bean eaters. Oh by the way Kobra got his 4th ring as the finals MVP for The World Champion Lakers. Word. Punk.
Yes the celtics havnt imrpoved at all rofl. You are blind if you havn't noticed what they did this off season. Not only do they get KG back, they added Daniels as well. Sheed will prove a bigger assest that you think. And dont forget the progress Baby and Rondo made last year, they have improved over the last two seasons. Tell me how clev is going to defend when Sheed and KG are on the floor? Sheed is going to strectch the d pulling shaq out and allow for easy drives by rondo and pp. Not only that, but shaqs big dumb ass is going to clog the lane and force Lebrick to shoot more J's this year and not get carried to the FT line every time.
Orl is a little better now that they have nelson back, but losing Turk makes the VC a lateral move at best.
To say that Boston hasn't improved is just ignorant.