NBA TV Preview

The 2005-06 Lakers season featured a disproportionate amount of thrilling moments for a 45-37 team, thanks mainly to the spectacular play of Kobe Bryant, he of the 81- and 62-point games, league-leading 35.4 scoring average, and playoff buzzer-beaters.

If the Lakers are to surpass last year’s showing (which was an 11-win jump from ’04-05), Phil Jackson will have to coax improvement largely from within, as the look of the team’s rotation hasn’t changed much beyond Bryant’s decision to switch from his familiar No. 8 jersey to No. 24.

L.A.’s main offseason move was the signing of rangy free-agent forward Vladimir Radmanovic, who brings shooting and athleticism at 6-10. The team also acquired Maurice Evans, a hard-working reserve, in a draft-day trade with Detroit.

Lamar Odom had another strong all-around season (14.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 5.5 apg). With his Pippenesque versatility, Odom seems like a perfect fit for Jackson and his triangle offense – the Lakers need even more production and assertiveness from the 6-10 forward, who will still be only 27 as of Nov. 6.

Up front, the wait for Kwame Brown to become a star seems eternal, though the big man played good defense and his numbers were up markedly down the stretch after Chris Mihm went down with an ankle injury. Mihm, a solid offensive option down low, has recovered slowly from summer ankle surgery and will miss the start of camp, but he should be back for the season opener. While Andrew Bynum memorably spun around Shaq and dunked in his rookie year, the 19-year-old seven-footer is still very much a work in progress.

The Lakers are still looking for answers beside Kobe in the backcourt. Undrafted Smush Parker was a revelation during the regular season, but he struggled mightily in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Sasha Vujacic’s .346 field-goal percentage belied his reputation as a sharpshooter (though he did knock down 9-15 threes in the playoffs). The team added depth at the position by drafting Jordan Farmar out of UCLA and signing journeyman Shammond Williams, who spent last season with FC Barcelona.

As for other familiar names, Luke Walton will be back with his triangle-friendly brand of team play, and forward Brian Cook will return to knock down shots off the bench. However, Devean George – the last link to the 2000-02 champions other than Bryant – left for Dallas in the offseason.

The one place where L.A. has no question marks is of course at shooting guard, where Bryant is, remarkably, about to enter his 11th season at age 28. Kobe says he’ll be ready for training camp after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He told the AP that “it took me 45 minutes to warm up for practice and games. It was crazy. [The knee] was very sore, you just played around it. I couldn't attack, put pressure on the defense the way I wanted to." If Kobe wasn't healthy last year, when he posted the NBA’s highest scoring average in 19 years, what could he possibly have in store this year?
-- Mark Haubner

2006-07 Lakers Tickets

Brown

Kwame Brown has been on the spot since the day he entered the NBA for Washington in 2001 as the No. 1 overall draft pick. The 6-11 forward/center’s tantalizing glimpses of athleticism have still yet to be backed up by consistent production. He’s only 24, though, and he has developed into a reliable interior defender.

Brown has poor hands and often has trouble finishing around the basket, so it’s hard to believe that he’ll ever become a big-time scorer. But if he could merely put up numbers like the 13.4 points and 9.1 rebounds that he averaged during the Lakers’ 11-3 run at the end of the regular season on a consistent basis, it would give L.A. a huge boost.
-- Mark Haubner

X&O STRENGTH

Jackson

Phil has the challenge of getting the team to recover from that Game 7 loss when their superstar only took two shots in the second half. It’s a tough task. They’re okay defensively. The success Miami had with the 2-3 zone in the Finals might make the Lakers do some of that. They have favorable matchups in the 2-3 and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s on their planning board.

X&O WEAKNESS
The addition of Vladimir Radmanovic was viewed as a big pickup because of Kobe being double-teamed, but that will only come into play when Kobe is doubled when he drives to the post – he is never doubled on the wing. So really, Vladimir’s impact will really depend on how the young big men develop. When they draw double teams, then Radmanovic will really be effective.

HEAD COACH PHILOSOPHY
I don’t know how much different Phil will do things besides emphasize the triangle way, team way. At times he will give up the game plan when Kobe goes on a tear, which he did a handful of times last season.
-- Don Casey (courtesy of the National Basketball Coaches Association)

It will go back to getting other guys besides Kobe going. But Kobe is the bottom line. He has been able to get the most out of those guys.
Theres a chance that Jordan Farmar can come in and help but I see them relying on their veteran leadership in Kobe and Lamar Odom. If you can get all these guys on the same page on the same night you’ll be okay.
In order to beat them, you’re going to have to run and you’re going to have to get somebody into Kobe to where he still has his 20, but maybe its on an excessive amount of shots.
Kobe started to recognize that he has the ability to score 80-plus points, and therefore, his pump fakes mean more than anybody else’s since Larry Bird’s. That’s where he can get his assists and the young people involved.
-- Western Conference Scout

Kwame Brown: In his last 31 games – from March on, including the playoffs – Brown averaged 11.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.7 blocks, and shot a whopping 58.2 percent from the field.

Vladimir Radmanovic: Radmanovic offers very little fantasy value outside of three-pointers, yet still gets taken much earlier in drafts than he should.

More fantasy news

Phil Jackson has done a great job of guiding one of the youngest teams in the league to be a competitive one. Last year was a learning process for many of the players, and while they learned, Kobe Bryant gunned up the shots and points to take the pressure off them. Now, armed with playoff experience, a full season of learning from Jackson and more confidence, expect more help for Kobe. Odom is making that jump from a good NBA player to a borderline great one, and both Smush Parker and Kwame Brown should be better than last year to cement themselves as serviceable fantasy starters. Do not expect too much from Radmanovic, though; Phil Jackson likes what he knows, and he knows Luke Walton and Brian Cook better than Radmanovic. As a whole, this team is deeper and more experienced than last year. Instead of respectability, the goal is to make a push for home court in the playoffs. It’s not too far out of their grasps.
-- Adam Madison
Lakers Fantasy Preview

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