Lakers-At-Nuggets Game Results - 27-Feb-09

DENVER (AP) -- For all the pundits who figure the Lakers and Spurs are the only teams to worry about in the West, the Denver Nuggets served notice Friday night that they deserve to be talked about, too.

J.R. Smith scored 22 points and hounded Kobe Bryant all night and the Nuggets beat cold-shooting Los Angeles 90-79 to end to end a nine-game losing streak against the Lakers.

The Nuggets got solid performances from reserves Smith and Chris Andersen, who tied a career high with seven blocks, pulled down 12 rebounds and chipped in 11 points, and their defense was, to a man, absolutely outstanding.

The Lakers, who brought the NBA's best record (48-10) into town when they checked into their hotel at 4 a.m., had their second-worst shooting night since the franchise moved to Southern California nearly a half century ago from Minneapolis -- 29.8 percent.

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Lakers-Suns Game Results - 26-Feb-09

The Los Angeles Lakers scored 70 points in the first half and rolled past the Phoenix Suns 132-106 Thursday night. Lamar Odom had 23 points on 12-for-13 shooting, helping the Lakers to their sixth straight win.

Kobe Bryant had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, while O'Neal had 12 points while taking just seven shots, and grabbed seven rebounds for the Suns in the former teammates' first meeting since sharing MVP honors at the All-Star game.

Pau Gasol added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who own the NBA's best record at 48-10 and lead the Pacific Division by 15 games over the Suns.

Los Angeles' points tied a season high and the team made a season-best 54 of 94 field goals, bettering the 48 the Lakers hit against Minnesota on Jan. 30.

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Lakers-At-Timberwolves Game Results - 22-Feb-09

Lamar Odom had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant scored 28 to move past Elgin Baylor into 20th place on the NBA's career scoring list in the Lakers' 111-108 victory Sunday night.

Pau Gasol added 25 points for the team with the league's best record, which is 9-1 since Bynum went down with a torn MCL in his right knee on Jan. 31.

Ryan Gomes had 20 points and seven rebounds and Craig Smith scored 19 on 9-for-10 shooting for the Timberwolves, who are 1-4 without Jefferson and have lost six straight home games.

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Lakers-Hornets Game Results - 20-Feb-09

Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 39 points in OT and the Los Angeles Lakers beat New Orleans 115-111 on Friday night, snapping an NBA-record streak of overtime wins by the Hornets dating to December 2005.

Pau Gasol had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the defending Western Conference champions, who won for the 14th time in 16 games. Derek Fisher, whose 3-pointer with 14.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter forced overtime, made four free throws in the final 14.3 seconds of the extra period to ice it.

Lamar Odom grabbed 12 points and 17 rebounds, the fifth time in six games that he had 17 or more boards.

The Lakers improved the NBA's best record to 45-10 and avenged a 116-105 loss to the Hornets on Jan. 6 that ended a 15-game home winning streak. Chris Paul and David West, who combined for 72 points in that one, had 21 and 16 respectively in the rematch while Rasual Butler led the team with 31.

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Lakers-Jazz Game Results - 11-Feb-09

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- With some time to rest approaching, Deron Williams was determined to leave all his energy on the court.

Williams had 31 points and 11 assists and the Utah Jazz snapped the Los Angeles Lakers' seven-game winning streak with a 113-109 victory Wednesday night.

Mehmet Okur scored 22 points, CJ Miles had 17 and Ronnie Brewer added 16 to give the injury-plagued Jazz their fourth win in the last five games.

Lamar Odom had 19 points and 19 rebounds, but the Lakers allowed the Jazz to shoot a season-high 58.6 percent.

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Lakers handed Cleveland its first home loss

CLEVELAND (AP) - No second All-Star. No triple-double for LeBron James. And now, no more home winning streak.

It's been a rough few days for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lamar Odom scored a season-high 28 points, Kobe Bryant added 19 and the streak-breaking Los Angeles Lakers handed Cleveland its first loss at home this season, 101-91 on Sunday.

The Cavaliers came in 23-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, but were stopped by the Lakers, who ended Boston's 19-game winning streak on Christmas Day and halted a 12-game run by the Celtics earlier this week.

James finished with 16 points on just 5-of-20 shooting for Cleveland, which hadn't lost at home since Game 5 against Washington in the first round of last season's playoffs.

The Lakers weren't intimidated in the NBA's rowdiest arena and went 6-0 on a road trip that also included stops in Minnesota, Memphis, New York, Toronto and Boston.

Pau Gasol added 18 points with 12 rebounds for Los Angeles, which played a solid all-around game and made just six turnovers - none over the final 19:28. The Lakers' trip started rocky with center Andruw Bynum injuring his knee against the Grizzlies, but it couldn't have ended any better.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 22 to lead Cleveland. Mo Williams, whose All-Star snub had infuriated the Cavs, scored 19 and James finished with 12 assists and eight rebounds. It was James' first game since his apparent historic triple-double at Madison Square Garden was downgraded when the league took away one of his 10 rebounds.

Odom, who added a season-best 17 rebounds, scored 15 in the third quarter, when the Lakers outscored the Cavaliers 31-16 to turn a 10-point deficit into a 82-77 lead entering the fourth.

Odom scored 13 of Los Angeles' last 16 points to close the quarter, capping his one-man scorefest with a two-handed dunk off a miss in the final second as the Lakers became just the fourth team this season to lead Cleveland at home after three.

The Lakers pushed their lead to 10 before the Cavaliers rallied and closed to 93-89 on two free throws by Ilgauskas with 3:06 left. But Bryant, who was battling flulike symptoms, hit a high-arching fadeaway, and Gasol dropped one of two free throws to make it 96-89 when the jumbo scoreboard above midcourt inside Quicken Loans Arena went dark, a symbolic moment for Cleveland's players and fans.

James was stripped on the Cavs' next possession, and Gasol made two more free throws and scored on a putback as the Lakers put an exclamation point on one of their biggest wins this season.

Cleveland's crowd was at a playoff pitch from the outset for one of the most anticipated games of the season, a matchup of the league's top stars, both leading MVP candidates, and two of the NBA's best teams.

But the game never materialized into a Bryant vs. James affair as Odom stole the spotlight.

Earlier this week, Lakers coach Phil Jackson attributed some of Cleveland's dominance at home to a raucous crowd that may influence the officials.

"They all wear No. 23 and help him throw that (expletive) up in the air when he's at the scorer's desk," Jackson said. "He gets away with murder, on top of it, on his home court."

Jackson slightly backed off from those remarks before the game.

"I'm just saying, it's home court," he said. "There are going to be more fans who will be involved in every bump and grind and whatever happens individually to him. Those things will affect the decisions of referees."

James hadn't heard Jackson's remarks.

"Me get calls?" he said in a disbelieving tone. "You guys know Phil. He always makes a comment before a big game or rivalry game. He always says something to throw people's focus off. But you guys know that I don't get as many calls as I should get. We're not going to go there."

James was careful not to complain about losing his triple-double in New York, but he was clearly miffed by the league's decision.

"Um. Should I say something?" he wondered before opting to keep his opinion a secret. "We won the basketball game and that's all that matters."

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Lakers Beat Celtics Again

BOSTON (By Jimmy Golen, AP) - Ray Allen was still on the floor, knocked on his back, when the Los Angeles Lakers began hugging and chest-bumping under the 2008 NBA Championship banner that was earned at their expense.

"I wish we would have come here last year with this kind of attitude,'' said Pau Gasol, who scored 24 points with 14 rebounds Thursday night to lead the Lakers to a 110-109 overtime victory over Boston.

"Nobody backed down,'' he added. "We were as physical as anybody.''

In a rematch of an NBA finals in which the Celtics outmuscled the Lakers to the title, Lamar Odom made a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left in overtime and Los Angeles held on with physical defense against Paul Pierce and Allen that prevented either All-Star from getting off a clean shot.

The loss snapped the Celtics' 12-game winning streak and dropped them to 0-2 against the best in the West. Boston trails the Lakers by percentage points for the best overall record in the NBA, and would lose a tiebreaker for home court advantage in the finals - if they both make it back.

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Lakers Beat Grizzlies But Lost Bynum

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum left the game against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first quarter Saturday night with a sprained right knee. Despite that, the Lakers still beat the Grizzlies 115-98 extending Memphis losing streak to 12 games.

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, dished out seven assists, and had three steals. Pau Gasol had 24 points and eight rebounds. Derek Fisher had a very efficient shooting night making 6-of-7 including 2-of-3 beyond the 3-point line for 14 points.

Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively off-the-bench.

Bynum's injury occurred at about the 7-minute mark of the first quarter under the Lakers’ basket. Kobe Bryant drove to the basket, missed the shot and crashed into Bynum’s right leg. Bynum immediately grabbed his knee.

The two were on the ground under their basket as the Grizzlies went to the other end. After Los Angeles gained possession, they called time out. Bynum, who scored 7 points and blocked a shot, was helped to the locker room with Los Angeles leading 13-11.

Last season, Bynum sustained a brief dislocation of his left kneecap in mid-January. He sat out the rest of the season, eventually undergoing surgery in May. Bynum was on a roll coming into Saturday, averaging 26.2 points, 14 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots over his last five games.

The Lakers trailed the Grizzlies at halftime, 61-55, but unleashed a 36-point third quarter and never trailed again after taking a 91-82 lead into the fourth. Lakers reserves, led by Odom, played excellent defense to start the fourth quarter making a 9-0 run in the first six minutes of the quarter.

The Lakers held Memphis to 37 second-half points in pulling out the victory.

Rudy Gay had 23 points, while O.J. Mayo scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field for the Grizzlies. Mike Conley and Pau Gasol's younger brother, Marc, both had 13 points for Memphis.

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Kobe Bryant Is The Lakers Lone MVP

With the NBA season near its halfway mark, and the Lakers having the best record in the Western Conference, it's about time we handout some midseason awards for the LA Lakers' strong 2008-'09 season.
For this round, I'd be giving four awards—MVP, sixth man, most-improved, and their Mythical Five. Feel free to comment and suggest other awards.

Most Valuable Player: Kobe Bryant

Even without looking at the stat sheets, I think nobody will argue that Kobe is still, and would continue to be in the next few years, the Lakers' best player. The Lakers still don't have a One-Two Punch, or a Big Three, or the Strong Five. They only have one MVP and that's Kobe Bryant! No more, no less.

But let's be objective and look at his numbers.

His stats are a bit off this season (27.2 points, 4.7 assists, 1.32 steals) compared to his last year's performance (28.3 points, 5.4 assists, 1.84 steals) that made him the league MVP. But this is attributed more to the improved performance of his teammates rather than his diminishing contributions.

He's playing less minutes this season (36.2 vs. 38.9 last season) but his performance efficiency rating (PER) improved from 24.09 to 25.06, the second best this year behind Miami's Dwayne Wade. Wait...let me check that again.

Oh, sorry. The Lakers lost in their last two games and Bryant's PER dropped to 24.97, just good for number three behind Portland's Brandon Roy.

Bryant also increased his contributions to the team this January when the level of competition increases as we approach the middle of the season and the trading deadline. He averaged 30.1 points on 49.2 percent shooting (45.9 percent from beyond the arc), 7.1 assists, and 6.0 rebounds in nine games this January.

And for those who think that Kobe shoots too much and misses a lot: Well, he has the best field goal percentage (47.8 percent) for shooting guards with PER of 20 or more (Roy is second, Wade third).

Sixth Man Award: Lamar Odom

Just by watching their games, it's not easy to see Odom's contributions to the team. He's coming off-the-bench; he plays shorter minutes; he usually doesn't score much; his rebounding is off; etc. etc.

Moreover, his stats are all off from last season. Last year, he averaged 14.2 points on 52.5 percent shooting, 3.5 assists, 10.7 rebounds in 37.9 minutes of playing time. This season, his averages dipped to 9.1 points on 47.3 percent shooting, 2.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds in 26.4 minutes of playing time.

So why am I giving this sixth man award to Lamar in spite of his seemingly diminished performance? Well, this award should go to the player who contributes the most to his team by doing the other things that bench players are supposed to be doing when they are on the court. The little things that current statistics don't track like setting screens, taking charges, drawing double teams, etc.

And that's what Odom keeps on doing.

By looking at his on-court/off-court statistics, which measures a player's contribution to the team when he's on-the-court and how the team performs when the player is on-the-bench, it's easy to realize how the Lakers could dominate their opponents when Odom is on-the-floor.

Odom's net on-court/off-court stat of +15.4 is the highest on the team. It's even better than Bryant's +8.7 and Fisher's +4.8 stats. This doesn't suggest that Lamar is more important than Kobe for the team. It's just that Odom is very good playing in his position (power forward) that he's either outscoring his counterparts or limiting their productions by his active defense.

Odom is No. 5 in the league on the net on-court/off-court performance per 100 possessions, behind New Orleans' dynamic duo, Chris Paul and David West, Miami's Dwayne Wade, and Cleveland's LeBron James.

All the top 16 players in this category are regular starters on their team except for Odom and Utah's Andrei Kirilenko (No. 10).

With this stats, you'd wonder why Phil Jackson continues to have Lamar come off-the-bench. I also do. In fact, I wrote an article last month regarding the need to have Odom return to their starting lineup.

Most Improved Player: Trevor Ariza

Trevor Ariza really improved a lot this season. Last year, he averaged 6.5 points, 1.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 24 games he played for the Lakers. Those stats are already a marked improvement over his performance in Orlando (3.3 points, 0.7 assists, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.5 steals)

This season, he raised his averages to 9.2 points, 2.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game. His PER has improved from 15.83 to 17.66 and now ranks 10th among small forwards in pure point rating. Ariza ranks second among small forwards in free-throw rate, eighth in rebound rate, and fourth in field-goal percentage.

So you wonder again why Jackson keeps Trevor coming off the bench? More on this later.

Mythical Five: Fisher-Bryant-Ariza-Odom-Gasol

This combination should be the Lakers starting lineup. It is their strongest unit producing +70 and 72.7 percent winning percentage in the 82games.com rating vs. the +57 and 48.0 percent winning percentage for their current starting lineup.

But why Jackson in not putting this combination on floor to start the games? Because he feels this unit is just a minor upgrade from the lineup that was routed by the Celtics in the NBA Finals last season. Admittedly, Ariza in place of Radmanovic is a minor upgrade.

So he's really is trying to get Gasol and Bynum play together. He's very strategic-minded. If he succeed, the Twin Tower of Gasol and Bynum would be very formidable, indeed.

Jackson is trying to develop Bynum to be a defensive-minded center while Gasol, an unstoppable offensive power forward. But the problem is, the two are not getting it yet. They are taking away scoring opportunities from each other.

Pau Gasol's scoring dipped from 18.8 points per game on 58.9 percent shooting last season as a Laker to 17.6 points at 54.8 percent shooting this season. Andrew Bynum's 13.1 points on 63.6 percent shooting last year also went south with 12.6 points on 53.7 percent shooting this season.

In fairness to Gasol and Bynum, they are very good at center position. They combined to make the Lakers the third-best in that position in terms of PER difference. The best in that category is Dwight Howard's Magic. No wonder they couldn't beat Orlando.

The second-best in that category is Cleveland. And they would be playing them tonight. Watch their performance.

Gasol ranked sixth among power forwards in the league in efficiency rating at 21.77 PER. But he only plays around 50 percent of the time at that position, the other half being played by Odom. Half of the time, Gasol is playing center, which is where he's more effective.

He produces +162 net points in the 82games.com rating with net48 of 12.7 with 75 win% as a center. As a power forward, he's only +76 with net48 of just 5.5 and 50 win percentage.

In contrast, Odom, playing at power forward, is +303 with net48 of 16.5 and 85 win percentage. Andrew Bynum is +183 with net48 of 8.2 and 66 win percentage.

These stats are quite complicated but it clearly shows that Odom and Gasol should be given more playing time at their natural position—that is at power forward and at center, respectively.

I'm not suggesting that Gasol and Bynum split the 48 minutes available playing time for one position. They are both too good to be playing just 24 minutes each. Sure, play Pau some minutes at forward but reduce it a bit to give more time for Lamar to be more effective.

So please Mr. Jackson, put Odom back to the Lakers starting lineup.

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Lakers Couldn't Beat Orlando

Inspite of a spectacular night from Kobe Bryant, the LA Lakers lost to the Orlando Magic 109-103 Friday night. Bryant had a triple-double performance -- the 15th of his career and first since April 2005 -- scoring 28 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and dishing 11 assists in 41 minutes.

With the Magic leading by three, Bryant missed a 27-foot three-pointer from the right wing that could have tied the game with 8.9 seconds left in the game. Jameer Nelson, who got the offensive rebound, was quickly fouled by Pau Gasol. He made both free throws to increase the lead to five.

Bryant again tried and missed a three-point shot with 4.9 seconds to go but no effort could have saved the game with only few seconds remaining in the game and the Lakers suffered its second consecutive losses this season.

But the Lakers didn't lose the game on that last two shots of Bryant. They lost it in the third quarter where they were outscored by Orlando 30-21.

The Lakers entered the third period leading by eight points. Andrew Bynum scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the first half helping lift the Lakers to a 52-44 lead over the Magic at halftime. But he went 1-of-4 in the second half and finished with 14 points with just 3 rebounds.

In the Lakers' loss in Orlando last December, Bynum scored just three points on 1-of-4 shooting and had just a single rebound. He's a non-factor again in the second-half this time.

Pau Gasol, who scored just 11 points and seven rebounds in their previous game in Orlando, only scored 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting with 9 rebounds in 33 minutes. Their two 7-footers combined for just 27 points and 12 rebounds, 7 on the offensive end.

In contrast, Orlando's Dwight Howard scored 25 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, 8 on the offensive end, and blocked three shots. Howard had his fourth 20-20 game this season in a game against the Lakers' Twin Tower! If you're the Lakers' GM, would you trade 7-footers Gasol and Bynum for 6'11" Howard? I would...

Also, for the first time in Orlando's franchise history, the Magic sweep their season series with the Lakers. The Magic wasn't able to do that when the Lakers had a 6'11" Kwame Brown as their starting center going against Howard.

Maybe the Lakers should hire Brown as special consultant to teach the Lakers big men how to play "defense" against the likes of Howard. Too bad he's still warming the bench in Detroit!

Derek Fisher also struggled with his shots missing eight of his 11 attempts for just 9 points. In their last game, he scored 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

Sasha Vujacic returned after missing two games with back spasms, but he didn't score in his 13 minutes on the court. Trevor Ariza added just 7 points off-the-bench.

On the positive note, Lamar Odom had a decent game this time. He had 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed 9 boards. In their last meeting, Odom was also a non-factor on offense with only four points on 1-of-7 shooting, although he matched the total rebounding contributions of their Twin Tower with 8 boards.

Vladimir Radmanovic added 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Jameer Nelson top-scored for Orlando with 28 points with 8 assists. Rashard Lewis scored 16 points with 4 steals and Hedo Turgoklu contributed 13 points. Courtney Lee added 12 points with 7 rebounds.

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Lakers' Twin Tower Is No Match To Hornets' David And Paul

The New Orleans Hornets made the improbable. They pulled an upset and won over the Lakers 116-105 in their Jan. 6 game at the Staples Center behind double-double performance from David West (40 points, 11 rebounds) and Chris Paul (32 points, 15 assists).

Kobe Bryant scored 39 points on 14-of-22 field goal shooting with 7 assists in 42 minutes. Derek Fisher had 19 points and 6 assists.

Lamar Odom would have had a spectacular game, scoring 12 points on 4-of-7 field goal shooting and dishing 3 assists despite playing for only 13 minutes, but he was injured late in the second quarter with a hyper-extended right knee.

The Lakers' Twin Towers were ineffective in this game with Pau Gasol scoring only 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting in 42 minutes with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 fouls. Andrew Bynum missed 5 of his 7 field goal attempts for a seven-point eight-rebound effort.

The Lakers' loss was the first in three games against the Hornets this season. They won their first meeting in New Orleans on Nov. 12 behind a very balanced scoring from their best players.

Bryant had 20 points and 6 assists in that game. Fisher also scored 20 points on 7-of-11 field goal shooting (4-of-6 from 3-point area) while Gasol and Bynum contributed 14 points each.

The Lakers also won their last game in New Orleans on Dec. 23, two days before their Christmas day match-up with the Celtics. Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum combined for 59 points on 49% field goal shooting with 20 total rebounds. They scored 26, 20, 13 respectively.

In their game at the Staples last night, the three combined for 56 points on 51% on the field--slightly better than their performance in their last game.

But that's just because of Bryant shooting 64% from the field. Only Bryant and Odom shot better than 50% from the field in this game. The team shot 42% from the field overall but only 32% if you take out Bryant's and Odom's numbers.

Too bad Odom was injured in the first half. They could have won the game had he stayed on the floor a little longer.

But was it really Odom not playing in the second half that cost them the game?

Well, Odom's scoring was also a non-factor in their two wins in New Orleans--just 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting in the first game and 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting in the second game.

Was it Bryant "trying to do too much?"

Nope! If fact, this game was Bryant's most efficient game against the Hornets this season although he scored only two in the fourth quarter, shooting 1-of-6 after going 13-of-16, including 6-of-6 from 3-point range in the first three quarters.

New Orleans really turned on their defense, especially on Bryant, in the last quarter and relied on dominating plays by West, who had 15 of his 40 points in the final period and outscored the whole Lakers team by himself.

The whole team was 5-of-21 from the field, including 3-of-11 from 3-point range while being outscored 27-13 in the fourth quarter.

Not to take anything away from the Hornets, who played a very good game especially in the last quarter, but the Lakers lost this game because their Twin Towers played like Two of the Seven Dwarfs!

C'mon Pau and Andrew! You made the 6'9" David West looked like 9'6" the way he dominated your 7-feet ceilings inside and outside! What happened to your vaunted wing spans that made the Lakers one of the best shot blocking teams in the league?

If you two play like this in your game tonight against the Golden State Warriors, expect another upset in Oakland! The Warriors are bigger, or at least they play bigger, than the one that blown you team out in your home court.

Good luck!

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Odom should return to the starting lineup

Lamar Odom's good game as a starter in the Lakers' last game against the New York Knicks should convince Phil Jackson to go back to their starting lineup last year with Odom on power forward slot, and Pau Gasol moving back to the center spot while Bynum comes off the bench. I think their strongest lineup is the Fisher-Bryant-Ariza-Odom-Gasol combination, and Coach Phil knows this--he keeps them at the end of close games.

According to 82games.com, this unit is their most productive combination that produced 1.21 points per possession and only allowed 0.95 opponent points per possession. Also, this starting lineup would maximize the effectiveness of Bynum on defense by keeping him out of early foul troubles and spread the floor on offense to allow Bryant to play his best game--attacking the rim and take higher percentage shots or get fouled and take free-throws--instead of taking too many long outside shots early in the game. It's hard to attack the lane if you have a 7-footer teammate in the low-block (Bynum) and another fellow 7-footer in the high-post (Gasol).

But I think Jackson is sticking with his current starting lineup because he's preparing the team for Boston Celtics. It's obvious that their strongest unit lacks the defensive force for the Celts, as they experienced in last year's finals. They need Bynum to matchup with the Perkins of Boston pound-for-pound and protect the paint, which Lamar or Pau couldn't do in last year finals.

But Phil might be overdoing it. By sticking with their current lineup, they may be sacrificing their overall effectiveness that made them the favorites to win the championship early in the season. Their current starting unit with Bynum and Walton in the lineup only makes 1.09 points while surrendering 1.00 opponent points per possession. Their previous starting lineup with Radmanovic and Bynum had a 1.11/1.05 record.

I believe the key to the continued development of the team is by doing what the other top two teams in the league, the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, are doing--try to dominate the opposition in every game by letting your best players play their best games. See how the Cavaliers are dominating their opponents by letting Lebron James play his dominating attack-the-basket and play-above-the-rim game and still make the team better?

At this point, all players in the Lakers team have regressed from their last year's performance. Only Trevor Ariza has better stats. And that's mainly because he wasn't playing much last year. Everyone wonders why Kobe Bryant usually struggles with his shots early in the game. Isn't he taking too many low-percentage jump shots? Is there something wrong with him? As Phil Jackson correctly pointed out, "there's nothing wrong with him." There's something wrong with his team--specially with their starting lineup.

Kobe was very effective last year playing with two quick front court players in Pau and Lamar and two spot-up wing players, Derek and Vlad, who can make 3-point shots. He can drive and drop to the post or kick out to the wing for long bombers. Gasol and Odom also are effective feeding each other alternating in the high and low post. That unit was very effective it earned Bryant his first MVP trophy! Unbeatable, the basketball analysts used to say.

Why would you change a very effective, high-octane, running-on-all-cylinders, like-a-Ferrari-sports-car unit that cruised through the insanely competitive western conference playoffs just last year? Not even the other most dominant team of this decade, the San Antonio Spurs, were able to figure out how to put the brakes on them. Because the Celtics locomotive run over the Lakers 12-cylinder engine and beat them in six games in the Finals?

Well, the Lakers are not playing them until December 25, right? And they'd only be racing with that massive steam-engine train called the Celtics for only one more time next year. In the meantime, please give us back the Lakers that the fans love and opponents feared so much. Just twink it a little by replacing a slower Radmanovic with the faster and more defensive-minded Ariza. Give Andrew his minutes. He's too good to warm the bench and his contributions will be critical against teams like the Celts and Cavs. But allow our team to start full-throttle by putting our best players to start the vaunted Lakers Engine and try to dominate the competition early in the game.

If you do that, Coach Phil, the Lakers sports car will jump over the Celtics train in June.

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