Crucifido’s Corner - Lakers vs. Nuggets

What A Difference A Coach Makes

Last year the Lakers opened the season with a win against the same Nuggets. This season, the same win but a totally different species.

About 3 minutes into the game it was readily apparent that this is a Phil Jackson coached team. Everyone was composed, relaxed and bearing a determined manner and look that was sorely absent last year. That same approach to the game persisted throughout the entire contest.

Last year, this game would have been a loss.

Of course the game wasn’t perfect by any means, but there were plenty of bright spots to lend some kind of hope to even the most (well maybe not the most but close) doubtful of the Laker clan.

Just some quick 3 sentence analyses for the team:

Kobe Bryant - The trianlge is now a “true” Chicago Bulls style of triangle and it was obvious tonight. Kobe showed the energy a lot of us knew he would bring tonight and more than likely the rest of this season. It wasn’t just the game winning shot, it was his determination to be the leader by example and his desire to win that guided this team(on the court) to the victory.

Lamar Odom - I know there will bne a ton of fans all over Lamar for his subpar shooting/offensive performance and I’m not trying to make excuses for it (he needs to be sharper for the team succeed in the long run) but overall he had a decent game. The assists came easy, play initiation wasn’t a problem whatsoever and he even had a couple flashes of defensive surprises against smaller players. All in all, Odom needs to (as usual) take the ball into the teeth of a defense and break teams down from the inside out.

Kwame Brown - It’s easy to see that Kwame has a big (if not the biggest on the team) learning curve ahead of him. There were too many times he was confused on spot up defense and unable to understand what points to hit in the low to mid-post. I do believe it will take 20 games until we see the Kwame brown that the Lakers will hopefully thrive with.

Chris Mihm - Chris took a big ol’ step backwards tonight - and it’s disappointing. He is still trying to do far too much as a center especially with a viable power forward now running alongside him in the posts. He seemed tentative and far too easily frustrated by offensive and defensive sets he should know by now.

Smush Parker - I was fine with the pick-up in the summer league and excited for the Lakers and Smush when he made the team. There was a ton of outcry about him not being the point guard the Lakers need or that he can’t survive against starting wquality NBA guards. Tonight, though too easily beaten laterally on defense, he showed that he can run with point guards in the NBA - and effectively so.

Devean George - The pre-season excellence he showed whie finally being healthy after several seasons of mild to major injury seems to have extended into the regular season. With Devean it’s always about, “Can he keep up the hustle play?” or ” Yeah but will he do it for 82 games?”, but if tonight is any indication Devean is determined to make his mark/role very well known on this Laker squad. Was that shutting down and frustrating of Carmelo Anthony a thing of beauty of what - great performance all around.

Andrew Bynum - The kid looked good. He seems comfortable in his body and able to control it with traffic in the lane - something very little young big men know how to do. He seemed incredibly composed for such a young player and if his instant performance (2 blocks and 2 rebounds in 5 mintues) is any indication of his development ability, this draft pick is will soon be questioned no more.

Sasha Vujacic - He played like Sasha. He was pitiful on all fronts. Wathcing his behavior on the bench after his stints also showed a quick little glimpse of some serious mental weakness that could do nothing but hinder any development he may be capable of.

Brian Cook - He did the job I assume he’ll do all year. He comes in, relieves a big man for a quick spell, throws in 6 to 8 points and off he goes. That kind of roleplayer on a team can quickly make themselves indispensible.

Laron Profit & Aaron McKie - They both can be solid contributors off the bench in small doses as they were tonight. I wouldn’t expect Phil to lean on them for any significant numbers, but they can help a team along during flatline times. Good veteran presences (such as McKie) help teams succeed in a lot of ways other stat sheets.

With the addition of Luke Walton in the coming weeks the (supposedly worst in the league) bench of the Lakers can begin to find their roles and establish their spots in an already seamless rotation.

Again, Phil coached a heck of a great game tonight for a coach who doesn’t coach according to many. Though only the first game, Phil substitution, play calling, timeout calls and guidance remains as it has always been - calm, collected and under control in any situation.

Though not a championship quality team I still contend that this Laker team is one of those teams nobody wants to see in the playoffs - a place they will most assuredly be (barring any horrible injury problems - knock on everything).

They’re going to surprise a lot of teams/people this season - this was the first.

Veteran ClubLakers member crucifido writes nightly player analysis for each game of the Laker season.

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