I suppose the question of the season for the Lakers is if they can successfully add Andrew Bynum to the rotation. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are a formidable post tandem on paper, and are good enough passers to make it work. It could similar to how Amare and Shaq had to learn to work together, although Amare spread the floor more with his shooting, and the Lakers pair have more advanced post moves. The second biggest question then concerns the health of Kobe Bryant’s pinkie. As much as I liked the fact that he played for Team USA this summer, his shooting seemed off in the games I watched. The departure of Ronny Turiaf could be a bigger loss than most think, since his hustle and heart (no pun intended) were good for team chemistry. If Kobe had to pick one player to be by his side while he jumped over a car, it would be Turiaf.
Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, and Sasha Vujacic are all solid players. (Who would have thought I would be saying that about Sasha two years ago? Most annoying player ever) Maybe Farmar improves into a legit starting PG. However, I think the pinkie injury nags Kobe all season, so despite a successful blend of Pau and Bynum, I think the Lakers’ record slips a bit to 54-28.
How the Suns Match Up
I really don’t know if Shaq and Amare can stop the Lakers down low. I haven’t gotten the chance to see Robin Lopez play much, but I don’t see a rookie center making a huge difference defensively against those two, especially in the playoffs. The Suns’ Bash Brothers, Barnes and Bell, will get under Kobe’s skin defensively, though I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I think the Suns go 1-3 against the Lakers, especially since they play Kobe’s crew twice early on when they’re still workig the kinks out under Terry Porter.
Anthony Randolph, Richard Hendrix, Corey Maggette, Marcus Williams, Ronny Turiaf
Key Losses
Baron Davis, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus
Season Outlook
The Golden State Warriors will try to replace the production of Baron Davis with a bevy of players. At point guard, they had hoped to plug in Monta Ellis, but his mysterious ankle injury has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the team. Maggette and Stephen Jackson should wreak havoc on the wings, and both are solid defensive players. The Warriors have a relatively deep, if not quite spectacular frontcourt. I really like Andris Biedrins, and though his new contract seems a bit pricey, it’s probably about market value. I’ve read vague rumors around the Web about how the Pistons want Biedrins back in a trade for veteran guard Chauncey Billups, which says a lot about the up and coming young center. He nearly averaged a double-double last season in only 27 minutes of burn. Ronny Turiaf is a solid player with a good jumpshot and hustle out the wazoo. When I think Richard Hendrix, I think this year’s Paul Millsap. Anthony Randolph had a good summer league, and paired with Brandan Wright, gives Bay City some forwards long on talent and in the arms. I’m a Marco Belinelli fan simply because he looks like Rocky’s younger brother. He’s a pretty good player too. The question for me is, who is going to step up and lead this team? Stephen Jackson is their emotional leader on the court, but I’m not sure I’d pick him to mentor a group of young players. Al Harrington isn’t know for being a winner. And everyone else is pretty young. I’m sure they’ll get off to a good start, but I think they stumble a bit at the end with a rough last week of the season and barely miss out on the playoffs. Completely random guess on the record: 46-36. Hey, it was either them or the Suns…
How the Suns Match Up
I don’t know that anyone really matches up all that well with the Warriors defensively. There’s just so much versatility and talent on the floor, that a couple of their players should always have a mismatch. And I don’t think anyone has ever accused the Suns of matching up “well” with anyone, though I would like to point out that statistics show they’ve had a very average defense over the past few years. I can see the Suns getting out-rebounded pretty badly in these games, but still pulling out wins. I think the Suns take the first two consecutive games in February, because Golden State will have just finished a pretty brutal stretch of games. They split the next two, and the series goes 3-1 in favor of the Suns. At this rate the Suns will end up with 60 wins or so, so I’ll have to figure out how to lower that to something a little more realistic…
After mentioning that Louis Amundson might need a nickname, I realized that the newbie needs to get in line. Alando Tucker, Robin Lopez, Goran Dragic and Matt Barnes could all use new nicknames. “Do” is a pretty weak nickname when you think about. When I think “Do” I think Bambi’s mom getting shot in the Smokey the Bear commercials. Robin has some potential I suppose. It would be really nice if we had someone worthy of a Batman nickname. Dragic has the foreign thing going for him, and his name looks like it rhymes with Magic. Matt Barnes could be kind of hard, but perhaps Warriors fans have a nickname for him I’m not aware of? Last to get a nickname is recently-acquired Sean Singletary, whose alliterated name may merit a superhero-esque handle if he plays well enough. To inspire your mind, head and brain to come up with solid tags, I present you with my Phoenix Suns All-Time Lineup Of Nicknamed Players Who Actually Have Some Skill (e.g. not John “Hot Rod” Williams):
The Lineup
PG: Steve “Canje” Nash. Also “Captain Canada”, “Nashty” and more. Sam “Gollum”, “Alien”, “Sam I Am” Cassell would have been stiff competition had he played in Phoenix a full year. The “Backcourt 2000″ of Jason “J-Kidd” Kidd and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway brings back too many what-ifs.
SG: Dan “Thunder Dan” Majerle. Apparently because he threw down pretty hard early in his career, though all I ever saw him do was launch 3’s. Gail “Stumpy” Goodrich isn’t that great, and I don’t know I can claim him from the Lakers.
SF: Shawn “The Matrix” Marion. I don’t know that it gets a whole lot better than this. Xavier “X-Man” McDaniel is solid, but less than one year anyways.
PF: Charles “Sir Charles” Barkley, also “Round Mound of Rebound” and “Chuckster”. Really close to giving it to Larry “The High Ayatolla of Slamola” Nance. Amare doesn’t really come close. STAT is decent, and he hasn’t quite earned “Black Jesus” yet. Antonio “Dice Man” McDyess, see Backcourt 2000.
C: Shaquille “The Big Aristotle” O’ Neal. Also, “The Big Diesel”, “The Big Cactus”, and whatever else he calls himself nowadays. Yeah, I copped out. Not really a fan of Tom “TC” Chambers or Oliver “Big O” Miller.
6th Man: Leandro “The Brazilian Blur” Barbosa. If he reaches his full potential, maybe “Captain Barbosa”. I suppose technically Robert “Big Shot Bob” is eligible, but only if you reaaaally stretched it.
