Future Analysis: Los Angeles Lakers

Have you ever asked yourself, “What will happen to the Lakers once Kobe retires?” or, “Who will be the next coach once Phil Jackson retires?“.

In this article I will try my best to answer those questions, as well as others in determining what will become of the defending champions in the future.  First off, I will start with discussing who will be the Lakers next head coach once Phil Jackson retires, because that is most likely the next thing to happen.

Phil Jackson was originally rumored to be retiring this offseason due to health issues, but after getting the “ok” from his doctor he will be returning to coach the Lakers full time next season.  When he finally does retire though, it is expected that Kurt Rambis will take over as the head coach.  Though Rambis has been an assistant with the Lakers for a couple of seasons, I believe that there may be better choices for the Lakers when it’s time to get a new coach.  Byron Scott is the top choice by many Lakers fans to be the new head coach.  Not only is he a former Lakers player, but he was also the coach of the year two seasons ago.  He is an excellent offensive and defensive coach, and could be a perfect fit for the Lakers.  Kurt Rambis is a good coach and deserves the job, but I think that if Byron Scott or, possibly, Nate McMillan is available then they should pursue them.

With the aging and retirement of some of the players on the team over the next few seasons, the Lakers will need to transition into a team led by Andrew Bynum and other young players.  After the Lakers swapped Trevor Ariza and Ron Artest through free agency, they are less prepared for the future.  The Lakers are gradually becoming a veteran team led by Ron Artest (29), Kobe Bryant (30), Pau Gasol (28), and Lamar Odom (29).  Although they have young players in Jordan Farmar, Andrew Bynum, Josh Powell, and Sasha Vujacic, Farmar and Vujacic are extremely inconsistent and are expected to be traded at some point, while Bynum has two surgically repaired knees that might cause problesm in the future, but he might be just fine, and Josh Powell isn’t a starting caliber player.  If Andrew Bynum is able to return to his star form and avoids getting injured, then the Lakers will have a nice building block for the future.  Kobe Bryant will be finishing his career with L.A., so the Lakers will have a lot of time to start rebuilding even when he is still in the NBA.  And since it is the Lakers, they will have no problem getting marque players through free agency.  Since Artest, Gasol, Bryant, and Odom will all be retiring within a 3-year span of each other, the Lakers will need to be prepared to rebuild quickly.  And there is a possibility that some of them will be on a different team before they retire.

Now for the Post-Kobe Lakers era.  The Post-Kobe Era will be highlighted by Andrew Bynum and another star player that we don’t know about yet.  It is a guarantee that the Lakers will be able to get another star guard the same offseason that Kobe Bryant retires, whether it be through free agency or a trade.  If Andrew Bynum is able to develop into a 20/10 guy who plays at least 70 games a season, then the Lakers will be in good shape.  There are rumors that OJ Mayo wants to be a Laker, so when he is a free agent after Kobe Bryant retires, there is a good chance that he would come to the Lakers.  The Lakers will also be stocking up on players in the next few years through the draft and through getting hidden gems in trades (like the Ariza trade).

So, no matter what happens in the future, you can always expect the Lakers to be a good team led by superstars.

Lakers Smack Magic, Pop Champaign

The Los Angeles Lakers are your 2009 NBA Champions.  Not too surprising considering they had the world’s best player, a player who craved a 4th championship, a player who was motivated beyond any measure to finish the job this time. And his teammates followed his lead all the way to a championship. That player has put himself in the conversation as one of the top 5 greatest basketball players of all-time.

Kobe Bryant, the greatest wing player of this decade, vaulted his team’s play to another level and the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans can now celebrate a 15th championship. This one was a long time coming. Just 24 months ago, it looked as though Kobe Bryant would never wear the purple and gold again. It started to get ugly, with Kobe asking to be traded before the ’08 season. Teams lined up trying to secure Bryant’s services but GM Mitch Kupchak refused to trade the superstar. I’d say it turned out to be a good move.

In a dominating performance, the Lakers won their 4th title in the last 10 years by soundly beating the Orlando Magic 99-86 to win the series 4-1. Big ups to Phil Jackson for a record 10th title as a coach. He is one of the top 3 coaches of all-time. Yes he had Jordon and Pippen, then Kobe and Shaq but everyone needs talent to win a championship so that argument is just ridiculous. He is arguably the best coach ever. And this year there was no second star player. It was Kobe and some good players who filled in nicely and that is how you build a champion.

Game 5– Kobe Bryant led the way with 30 pts to go with 6 rebounds, 5 assists,  4 blocks, and the Bill Russell Finals MVP Award. He averaged 32.4 pts and 7.4 assists in the Finals. Lamar Odom added 17 and 10, Ariza had 15 pts, Gasol racked up 14 pts and 15 boards, and Fisher had 13. Orlando was led by Rashard Lewis’s 18 pts on 6-19 shooting. The Lakers shot 8-16 from behind the arc compared to the Magic’s 8-27 and outrebounded the eastern champs 47-36. I was disappointed by the Magic’s response after LA went on a killer 16-0 run at the end of the 1st half. Frankly, it looked as though Orlando packed it in after that. Rashard Lewis for one was not hustling after rebounds. Ariza beat him to a ball early in the 4th and it just showed he was mentally gone. He wasn’t the only one. The entire Magic team played poorly and other for game 3, they shot terribly from 3 pt. range, which was their undoing. The 3-pt. shots went down against Cleveland but not in the Finals against a more determined, couragous team. If you actually take a closer look at LA, they were not suprememly talented. Kobe is the best player in the world, Gasol is one of the top big man but in no way is he dominant,  and Odom is a good player but excruicatingly inconsistent. All three played great in the series and that was the difference. Ariza was just awesome throughout the entire playoffs. He has turned himself into an invaluable player because of his desire, hustle, 3-pt. shooting ability, and excellent defense. The rest of the team are bench players. Fisher is a verteran who stepped up at the end of game 4 but other than that, he is an average player. Walton, Farmar, Vujacic, Brown, and Bynum are bench guys right now. So LA wasn’t like Boston from last year where they were obvioulsy talent laden with three stars in Garnett, Pierce, Allen, and a young stud in Rondo. But the Lakers came back tougher this year and they played very well. They were clearly the best team in the last two rounds of the playoffs.

The lasting image i’ll remember from this series is Kobe’s hanging banker over Dwight Howard midway through the 3rd quarter of game 5. Just an unblievable display of strength and hangtime, especially considering he shot over a 7 footer with mad bunnies. Which play was better, MJ’s against the Lakers in the ’91 Finals or Kobe’s over Superman?

Player of the Finals other than Bryant: I love Trevor Ariza’s game and the way he plays. While his Finals stats were modest at 11 pts and 6 rebounds, he’s like the Chase Utley of basketball in terms of playing the game “the right way.” He plays with so much desire and determination and it translates to success. As mentioned, he has become a great shooter and a stud defensively. He can jump out of the gym and doesn’t make many mistakes. You’re not nervous when he gets the ball because he doesn’t get flustered by pressure. He got hurt at the end of last year and I think that if he and Bynum hadn’t gotten hurt, LA might have won over Boston or at least made it a tougher series. Ariza (and Odom) are free agents this year and if the Sixers (my team) weren’t so stacked at small forward, I’d beg them to sign Ariza. LA needs to sign at least one of the two while also upgrading through trades/draft/free agency because if they don’t do that and Bynum doesn’t develop next season, LA won’t win the title next year. Boston will be improved with Garnett’s return and Orlando and Cleveland will be just as good if not better as well.

Key Play of the Finals: No question it was Derek Fisher’s 3-pointer over Jameer Nelson to force OT at the end of game 4. If Fish misses that, the series is deadlocked at 2 and who knows what would have happened. But he knocked it down and then hit the game winner with 31 secs. left in the extra session. As a veteran in this league and with 3 championships coming into the series, Fisher clearly had more experience and it payed off. In fact, that was the key to the entire series. The Magic were a young team while the Lakers were here last year and had guys who had won before. It up in coaching too when Van Gundy stuck with Nelson and sat Rafer Alston on the bench for all of the 4th and OT. And Nelson didn’t foul Fisher but instead let him rise into a 3-ball. Makes no sense and the Magic will be beating themselves forever for giving away that game. Oh what could have been for Orlando.

Everyone’s A Winner Baby, Especially in LA!

Well the Los Angeles Lakers have proven to be triumphant in securing their fifteenth NBA title. It is also Phil Jackson’s tenth title as a coach and his eleventh overall over the course of his professional career within the NBA.    

Finals MVP holds both the Larry O'Brien Trophy as well of the award given to the Finals' MVP. For the player it was his 4th professional NBA title but his first Finals series MVP award. Picture appears courtesy of nbae/getty images/ Noah D Bernstein

For the Orlando Magic this was something of a disappointing way to end their season in what one might describe as something of a blowout. victory for Los Angeles.

Rafer Alston of the Orlando Magic looks somewhat disappointed after the team's 99-86 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the game 5 of the NBA Finals played at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida. Picture appears courtesy of nbae/getty images/ Jesse D Garrabant

The Lakers’ 99-86 triumph over the Magic secured a 4-1 series’ win and all the adulation one could come to expect that’d be poured upon perhaps the NBA’s most storied franchise. And even though the feat was achieved away from home at the Amway Arena in Orlando. It didn’t however make the victory anytheless sweeter. And for Finals’ MVP Kobe Bryant it may well have brought the redemption he’d finally sought. The talk of him not being able to land and win the Big One without Shaquille O’Neal finally becomes mute.

Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol celebrate after the team's victory over the Orlando Magic in game five of the NBA Finals played at the Amway Arena in Orlando , Florida. With the victory the Lakers secured their fifteenth NBA title as a franchise. Picture appears courtesy of nbae/getty images/ Jesse D Garrabant

If ever there was to be an indication that last night wasn’t to be the night where the home team may well have felt that there could somehow be some jubilation on the part of their fans. Then one had to look no further than the performances of their main triumvirate of Dwight Howard , Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. Who for all sense and purpose were weighed down with the undue pressure of expectation. Their’s was the daunting task of trying to keep the team in contention against the Lakers and perhaps force them to win the title on their home-court. Alas it wasn’t to be ! They came up short when it mattered most.

Post Game Analysis: NBA FINALS Game 3

104-108

Even tough the Orlando Magic had set a Finals record by shooting 75%, they held just a 5-point lead at halftime. And although their overall shooting percentage also set a Finals record by finishing in the low 60s, as the clock hit the 2:45 mark in the 4th quarter, the Magic’s lead had evaporated. How could that be possible? The Magic were playing their best game and yet it looked like the Lakers would pull out game 3 and take a formidable 3-0 series lead. However, as they have done everytime  their backs are against the wall, Orlando conjured some more Magic and stopped the Lakers cold down the stretch to get back into the series.

Rafer Alston’s resurgence combined with the bench scoring from Mickael Pietrus and solid play from their “big 3,” the Orlando Magic held off a Laker comeback attempt to win game 3 of the NBA Finals 108-104. After shooting a combined 3-17 in the first two games of the Finals, including 0-8 from 3pt. range, Alston had 20 pts on 8-12 from the field while Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard led the way with 21 pts each. Kobe Bryant led LA with 31 pts and 4-3pt.s but made just 5 of 10 free throws. Pau Gasol continued his great play, scoring 23 pts on 9-11 shooting but was held to 3 measly rebounds.

Play of the Game: With about 35 seconds to go and with a chance to complete the comeback, Kobe Bryant got a screen from Pau Gasol and went left, past his defender (Pietrus) where he met Dwight Howard who was helping until Pietrus could recover (a term called hedging.) Kobe tried to cut back to his right and sqeeze by Howard. But the defensive player of the year stuck his hand out and deflected Kobe’s crossover attempt towards Gasol and Pietrus. Gasol dove to the floor and snatched the ball from Pietrus (who tried to pick up the ball and dribble downcourt) but fortunately for Orlando, Pau did not call time while on the ground and instead played hot potato. He flipped the ball behind him towards Bryant but Pietrus stepped in front to intercept the basketball and was immediately fouled by Bryant. Pietrus knocked down both free throws with 28 secs. left, giving Orlando a 106-102 lead it would not relinquish.

Player of the Game: This was a tough call because Orlando had 4 guys who played exceptionally well. But it was Mickael Pietrus who made the biggest impact, especially in the 4th quarter. He guarded Bryant for most of the game and after the black mamba went off for 21 pts in the first half, Pietrus slammed the snake back into its cage by holding Bryant to 10 2nd half pts on just 4-15 shooting. And on the offensive end Pietrus was brilliant in scoring 18 pts off the bench, 10 of which came in the final quarter. He hit a tough fadeaway from about 18 ft. early in the 4th and later slammed home a missed shot to give Orlando a 101-99 lead with 2:19 remaining. He did all this without doing what he does best; Pietrus did not hit a 3-pt. shot.

Key Stat: This has to be Orlando’s ridiculous shooting numbers. They hit on a Finals record 62.5% of their shots but interestingly took just 14 shots from deep and knocked just 5. It has been said that Orlando must hit 8-12 three a game to win or at least shoot around 40% from long-range. But in game 3, the Magic hit shots from inside the arc and got great play from point guard Rafer Alston and point-forward Hedo Turkoglu (18 pts, 7 ast-1 to, 6 reb).

Outlook for Game 4—Expect another tight, exciting game. I don’t understand those who think the Lakers are way better because its obviously not true.  LA didn’t sweep like some predicted after they took a 2-0 lead and LA won’t win the next two games either. Orlando was a Courtney Lee layup from winning game 2 in Los Angeles after leading for most of the 4th. The ball didn’t role the Magic’s way and it’s over with. LA did not have a lead the entire 2nd half in game 3, yet played well. Orlando was clearly the better team and I think they’ll do it again Thursday Night.

Post-Game Analysis: NBA FINALS – Game 1

75 – 100

The Lakers came out strong in front of the homecrowd as they took a big first step in revenging last season’s disappointment of losing in the NBA FINALS vs. Boston.  Kobe Bryant was a man on a mission in leading Los Angeles to a 100-75 rout of the Orlando Magic in game 1 of the best of 7 series.  Bryant showed he does not want to hand over the title as the NBA’s best player just yet as he scored a personal finals high 40 pts while chipping in with 8 boards and dishing out 8 dimes.

Pau Gasol led a plethora of Laker big men with 16 pts and 8 rebounds, Lamar Odom had 11 and 14 off the bench and young Andrew Bynum scored 9 pts and 9 rebounds. On the other side, nothing went right. Bench extrodinare Mickael Pietrus led the way with 14 pts with most coming in garbage time while Dwight Howard, who was coming off a 40 point night in the clincher vs. Cleveland, was held to just 12 pts and 15 rebounds. Jameer Nelson completed his comeback after suffering what at the time appeared to be a season ending shoulder injury suffered February 2nd and scored 6 pts off the bench to go with 4 assists. He was obvioulsy a bit rusty but for those who thought he was not going to have any impact, I have a feeling they just might end up chocking on their own words by the end of this series.

It’s Game Time! An NBA Finals Preview

Finally, the day has arrived. The NBA Finals begin tonight, and the matchup that all of America has waited for with baited breath is here. The matchup of two titans of the league, the biggest names this planet has ever seen. They will settle their differences on the court, and finally decide who is the best…dammit, got carried away there! You see, that’s how most of the NBA offices wishes this series could have been billed. Instead, the Lakers play the Magic.

Actually, this series isn’t as bad as most people are calling it now. Sure, there’s no LeBron, but this series is more intriguing because Orlando matches up better than Cleveland does against the Lakers. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu will put the onus on Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza to play consistently well or get burned by the three-point shot. And, of course, “Superman” Dwight Howard puts Andrew Bynum and the rest of the Lakers’ bigs to the ultimate test. Those matchups will determine who will emerge as the NBA champion.

Here’s a position by position breakdown of the matchups:

Point Guard (Derek Fisher/Jordan Farmar/Shannon Brown vs Rafer Alston/Anthony Johnson/Jameer Nelson?): I put Nelson in there for courtesy, but even if he plays, he won’t be a factor. Alston played well against Mo Williams in the conference finals, and none of the three Laker PGs have had any luck shooting the ball. Alston could also drive the ball to the rack to put pressure on Fisher. Advantage: Magic

Shooting Guard (Kobe Bryant/Sasha Vujacic vs Courtney Lee/J.J. Redick): Don’t get me wrong; Lewis will probably get the assignment of guarding the Mamba. But based purely on position, um, Advantage: Lakers by a mile

Small Forward (Trevor Ariza/Lamar Odom vs Hedo Turkoglu/Mikeal Pietrus): This is one of the key matchups. Ariza and Odom are the constant keys to whether the Lakers win or get blown away. Ariza needs to hound Turkoglu (a noted road playoff performer) and keep him from getting hot, while Odom needs to provide some scoring and rebounding to offset Howard’s dominance in that regard. We’ll see what happens. For now, Advantage: Even

Power Forward (Pau Gasol/Josh Powell/Lamar Odom vs Rashard Lewis/Tony Battie): Gasol will have matchups problems with Lewis’ range, but if he plays assertively, he should have the rebounding and inside advanatage. That’s a major key; Gasol must put up the same kinds of stats he did against Denver to compliment Bryant. Expect to see Battie play a little more in this series (with Lewis shifting to the three and Turkoglu to the two) to give Orlando more size against the Lakers. Advantage: Lakers by a hair

Center (Andrew Bynum/Pau Gasol vs Diwght Howard/Marcin Gortat): Bynum has contributed litlle other than fouls for most of the playoffs, and against Howard, he could set a record for fouling out. That’s if the bad Bynum shows up. If the (reasonably) good Bynum shows, it’s still a mismatch, but not quite as pronounced. Advantage: Magic

Bench: The Lakers have gotten inconsistent bench help throughout the playoffs. It’s always a question of whether Odom is back from his planet, and they’ll need him to be to counter Pietrus, who outplayed the entire Cleveland bench last round. The rest of the benches aren’t as important, but I think the Magic bench has played better than L.A.’s. Advantage: Magic

Coaches (Phil Jackson vs Stan Van Gundy): As like last year, we have the Master vs the Apprentice. And last year, the Apprentice won. Jackson won’t have many (if any) more chances to pass Red Auerbach in total titles, so expect to see him more active coaching than in the past (more like the Jackson who berated Odom in Denver). Van Gundy has overcome the “Master of Panic” mantra to a degree, but he needs to make sure he exploits his team’s shooting and matchups advanatges to win. I just wonder how Jeff Van Gundy can be objective on ESPN? Advantage: Lakers

Prediction: Since the Lakers have a determined Kobe Bryant at the helm, and I expect the Lakers to employ a strategy similar to the one used against them in 2004 by the Pistons (let Howard dominate, stop Lewis and Turkoglu), I predict the Lakers win will the series in six games.

Post Game Analysis: Lakers @ Nuggets–Game 6

                                                                                                          119  92                                                                                                                                           

With a dazzling combination of outside shooting, dunks and hook shots, the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the Denver Nuggets on Friday night in route to a 119-92 victory culminating in their 2nd straight trip to the NBA Finals. Leading the way with his leadership and playmaking was none other than 07-08 NBA MVP Kobe Bryant. Bryant might have had his best all around game in this series as he scored 35 pts while adding 10 assists and 6 rebounds. Power forward Pau Gasol added 20, 12 and 6 while Trevor Ariza continued his great postseason run with 17 pts on 7-9 shooting from the field. And for the first time all postseason, Lamar Odom showed up in back-to-back games as he led the Laker bench with 20 pts and 8 boards. All this led to the Lakers playing their best and most complete game of the series as they held the Nuggets at bay from start to finish.

Turning Point of the Game: Kobe Bryant scored 11 points in a decisive 21-7 Laker run over the final 6:37 of the second period that turned a one point defecit into a 53-40 halftime lead. The run took the buzz out of the Nugget fans and frankly took the air out of the Nuggets, who did not respond to the adversity of being down double digits in an elimination game. Denver began to throw up wild jump shots and played without poise while Kobe and his teammates steadily increased their lead to 18, then 21, and finally 27 points late in the 4th.

Player of the Game: For the second straight game, this title goes to Kobe, who was unstoppable all game. He could have scored 50 if he wanted to, but instead looked  for his teammates all night resulting in 10 assists for Bryant. The Lakers had five players score in double figures including four who had 17 pts or more. When the Lakers have this much balance in their scoring, no one will be able to beat them. Kobe’s unselfishness was evident from the start and he finished  12-20 from the field with 2 baskets from behind the arc and 9-9 shooting from the foul line. The Lakers had a ridiculous  plus 31 point differential when Bryant was on the court, which summarizes his night up well.

Key Stat from Game 6: Coming into Game 6, the Lakers had shot a modest 74% from the free throw line in the series against Denver. Well on Friday Night at the Pepsi Center, LA shot a perfect 24-24 from the foul line. Championship teams must shoot well from the line and the Lakers proved they are a very good free throw shooting team, led by Kobe, who is making over 90% of his free throws in the NBA playoffs. Also, LA was hitting on just 33% of its 3pt. attempts vs. Denver but in Game 6, they knocked down 9-16, good for 56.3%

One more thing. Denver should be proud of the way they played throughout the entire 2008-2009 season. They finally won a playoff series and reached the conference finals for the first time since 1995. But they will regret their lack of poise late in games in the series against LA and they did not play smart on numerous occasions. They had too many stupid fouls and technicals and took many bad shots a recipe for defeat against a confident, experienced Laker team. But expect Denver to retool and be in the hunt next year.

Post-Game Analysis: Nuggets @ Lakers – Game 5

 

94 – 103

 

 

The Lakers showed why they are a championship caliber team when they dispatched the Nuggets in the 4th quarter and won 103-94 in game 5 to move within a win of reaching the NBA Finals for the second straight year. Kobe Bryant led the way with his unselfish play, scoring 22 pts on just 13 shots while grabbing 5 boards and handing out 8 assists (and 7 turnovers). Carmelo Anthony was the top scorer for the Nuggets as he had 31 pts. The key to the Lakers win in game 5 was their 21-3 run spanning the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter after they fell behind by seven. This turned the seven point defecit (73-66) into an 87-76 lead with 8:11 to play. The Nuggets missed 11 straight shots over this span.

Turning Point of the Game: The turning point of last night’s game should be pretty obvious if you watched the game last night. With 4:20 to play in the 3rd and Denver leading by 5, Chauncey Billups pumped faked at the 3pt. line and tried to lean into Shannon Brown to draw a foul. But Brown did a nice job of avoiding the contact and Billups was forced to change course in midair, throwing an errant pass right to Pau Gasol at the foul line. Gasol led the 3 on 1 fastbreak with Brown on his right and Trevor Ariza on his left while Billups  sulked and let Brown run by him to create the 3 0n 1 instead of a 3 on 2. Gasol flipped the ball to Brown who took two steps and jammed over the outstretched arm of Chris “Birdman” Andersen.

With the dunk, the little used Brown got the crowd involved, inspired  his teammates and boosted the energy and moral  of a Laker team that had been outplayed up until that point. And to add to his excitement, Brown earned himself the #4 play on SportsCenters top ten plays of the day, as well as a poster with his dunk on the Birdman (I can’t wait to see what that looks like).