Here are my thoughts after watching game one of the Lakers pre-season:
--It would be difficult to imagine that this Lakers' team could be better than the team that won 65 games and the title a year ago, but they think that it is. I talked to several players who feel that with a healthy Andrew Bynum, a Shannon Brown for a full year, and the addition of Ron Artest, that this team can improve on a year ago.
--Although they gave up 101 points to the Warriors, the defense looked focused and reinvigorated. Artest is a bulldog, and Kobe is going to take advantage of the fact that he can "cheat" off of his man to get more steals. The Lakers had 16 steals, compared to the Warriors eight.
--The starters played more minutes than I thought they would. Bynum played a team-high 30 minutes, while Kobe played 25, and Artest 23. That's a good sign that if you have tickets to a pre-season game, you'll actually get to see the real Lakers for at least half of the game.
--Speaking of Bynum, he showed again how dominating he can be if he stays healthy. Other than Dwight Howard, he could be the best center in the league. Yao is out for the season, Shaq is older, and I don't think there's another true center that is better than Bynum can be. The problem is that he's suffered major injuries in each of the last two seasons. I would limit his minutes in both games and practices to prevent against that, but my guess is that the Lakers won't. I think they're going to play him a lot--especially early--to build up his conditioning.
--The battle for minutes will be fun to watch. Since Phil Jackson has already said he's hoping to play Derek Fisher 20-25 minutes per game this year, that leaves half of the game for somebody else. Against Golden State, Shannon Brown played 19:20 and Jordan Farmar played 18:25. They each scored 11 points, and both looked good. Farmar had six assists, and Brown brought down the house with a dunk he threw down over seven-footer Mikki Moore. I think Farmar is a better fit to run the second unit, but Brown is quickly becoming an energizer like Kurt Rambis was in the 80's. Like I said, this will be fun.
--And that's not the only battle for minutes. Sasha Vujacic is shooting better because he's being pushed by Adam Morrison in practice. Josh Powell looks more active, which should be a wake up call for Luke Walton. It might be the most well-rounded team I've covered in the 15 years I've been here.
On Friday, the Lakers go back to the Forum. Think that might bring back a few memories?
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