Now is the time to be worried for Andrew Bynum. For months every Lakers fan has been insisting that had Bynum been healthy enough to suit up for the team last spring they would have taken home the Championship. This is a guy who has played excellent basketball for all of two months of a three-year career and who is recovering from season-ending knee surgery. Bynum didn't even get a chance to prove (to himself, if no one else) that he could even maintain his high level of play for an entire year. Now he's supposed to arrive at training camp and be the missing piece of an NBA Titlist? Good luck, Mr. Bynum.
SG - Kobe Bryant
For all that the Lakers staggering turnaround last year did wonders for Kobe's reputation around the league, nothing could have elevated his stature as much as the Olympics. Aside from seeing the sheer adoration that the Chinese fans heaped on top of him (amazing even his superstar teammates), his play on the court spoke volumes about how much Kobe has changed in the last few years as a basketball player. He fit so seamlessly into what this team did it was eerie. Whereas LeBron and Wade were able to dominate with the ball in their hands most of the time, Kobe was able to dominate through defense and positioning and passing and timely offense. He paced himself, took what the defense gave him and happily deferred to his teammates. Now, that's all well and good, but when the game against Spain, the Gold Medal contest, started slipping away from USA, there was only one player on the squad that was going to be entrusted with getting the momentum back. Kobe got the ball and ended the game. He proved that he could be whatever a team needs to be successful, be it blending it or taking over. THAT is what makes him the greatest basketball player in the world. There are a few who can dominate, a few who can pack a stat sheet, many who can blend into a team's program and then there is Kobe - the player that can truly do it all.
PF - Pau Gasol
When Gasol was traded to the Lakers last winter is was like a match made in heaven. Gasol sees the floor so well, both as a passer and as a receiver, that he is the ideal post-man for the read-and-react triangle offense. His scoring and rebounding numbers were more or less identical to the ones he had been posting in Memphis that season, but his efficiency went through the roof as the team was able to shave three minutes per game off of his playing time to keep him fresh without seeing a dip in production. Allowing Bynum to anchor himself down low also allows Gasol more maneuverability in the triangle, since he won't have to be locked in to the pivot as much, and he'll have a capable rebounder and shot blocker in Bynum who will be able to take over that role, too, affording Gasol a reprieve from a part of the game that isn't exactly his calling card. He may not be an All-Star caliber player anymore, but given the position he's in to contend annually for an NBA Championship it's hard to imagine he minds all that much.
C - Andrew Bynum
Here is the thing that is worrisome about Bynum: last season (the few months that he played of it, anyway) Bynum was a 13.1 point, 10.2 rebound, 2.1 block per game centre. Very good numbers that put him in the class of Sam Dalembert, Tyson Chandler and Andris Biedrins. No team in the league would turn down the opportunity to have that kind of player manning the pivot for them. However, because of his age and his renowned Laker tutors (Kareem, Rambis), everyone has started assuming that he'll develop into the next David Robinson or Patrick Ewing. This is a guy that this time last year would have been able to call his season a success if he just managed to hang on to a starting job, now after two months of inspired basketball people are ready to anoint him as the 'next great thing'. Maybe he is, and maybe last year was just the start of a career that will live in infamy, but as has become a (rather tedious) through-line in these previews, let's allow this big man to prove he can do it for one season before we demand it of an entire career.
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=251190&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nba
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