Lakers benefitting from wise draft choices

[LakeShow]

Lakers benefitting from wise draft choices

By Kenny Smith, Yahoo! Sports
January 10, 2008

Three years ago, when Los Angeles Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak made it clear the team would do whatever necessary to keep Kobe Bryant, I thought he was crazy for not taking the same approach with Shaquille O’Neal.

By publicly dissing the Big Aristotle, Kupchak revealed two things: The Lakers would be going through a rebuilding phase; and, in either Kupchak’s opinion or that of owner Jerry Buss, Shaq’s days as the NBA’s most dominant player were numbered. Shaq then went to Miami and won a championship while announcing along the way that Dwyane Wade was a better player and teammate than Kobe. This naturally made Kupchak look like he needed to be committed to the nearest ins ution.

Now, however, we realize that Kupchak was right on both accounts. Shaq is sidelined with a hip injury and the Heat have tumbled into last place in the Eastern Conference. As for the Lakers’ rebuilding phase? It seems to be shorter and less painful than expected.

The Lakers are one of the few teams who have been able to rebuild while also staying compe ive. Ask the Minnesota Timberwolves about the alternative.

Here’s what Kupchak and the Lakers’ front office has done:

• In recent years they drafted Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf, all of who have become productive members of the team’s rotation. Kobe ridiculed Bynum over the summer, but he hasn’t had many negative things to say about him of late. Not when Bynum is developing into one of the league’s best centers.

Turiaf, a hard-working enthusiast, has helped the Lakers survive injuries to Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm. Farmar, meanwhile, has become a sparkplug off the bench.

• Kupchak has surrounded Kobe with deadeye shooters (Derek Fisher, Vladimir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic) who can give him room to operate. Bringing back Fisher seemed like a mercy call, but he looks like a steal.

• The Lakers recently convinced coach Phil Jackson to sign a two-year extension.

• Perhaps most important, Kupchak stayed quiet when Kobe and Buss bickered in training camp. That controversy, at least for now, has finally died down.

Kupchak has said the only way he makes a trade is to catapult his team to elite status. If that’s true the Lakers might be only one piece away, if that. They currently own the fourth-best record in the Western Conference and have just one more loss than the first-place Phoenix Suns.

This could be the season the Lakers go from playoff team to contender. Why? Trust.

Prior to this season, Kobe had no reason to trust his teammates. They didn't produce when given the opportunity. That's not the case this season. Nearly all of them have delivered.

Lamar Odom seems to have finally figured out how to play in the triangle offense, or at least figured out how to play with Kobe. Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Trevor Ariza – even the rook, Javaris Crittenton – have made contributions at times.

So I say get your banners out. It’s election season. Kupchak for Executive of the Year.


Kenny Smith is the NBA analyst for Yahoo! Sports. Check out "The Jet" at http://kennythejet.com and "Inside the NBA" on Thursdays on TNT. Send Kenny a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

[LakeShow]

Quote:

Kupchak has said the only way he makes a trade is to catapult his team to elite status. If that’s true the Lakers might be only one piece away, if that.

all this talk of needing one more player is hogwash to me. I really don't think the lakers need to add another player, only if it doesn't destroy our chemistry. Brown and Farmer/Crit's name has been mentioned for Oneal. Oneal would be nice but I wouldn't get rid of our guards if at all possible. If the Lakers could get Oneal for Brown and or Mihm/Rad I would go for it but other than that I would stay pat. Oneal is dealing with Injuries so it will probably leave us one short of what they need to compete with the best for awhile. I like this team just as it is right now. Let them continue to mesh together. Kobe and Fish will not let them slack this season. Kobe is not making a big deal out of any games right now and continues to state that the lakers haven't done anything yet. That mindset should take them a long way this season. They have one more spot available, I would grab Outlaw and roll with what they have.

[CavsSuperFan]

Trevor Ariza has been an outstanding edition for the Lakers…TIM MVP called that one…(I never really heard of the guy before the trade)…

[LakeShow]

Trevor Ariza has been an outstanding edition for the Lakers…TIM MVP called that one…(I never really heard of the guy before the trade)…

He has been better than expected. Phil has been alternating starting him and Walton at the 3. Starting each player per opponent. I really would like Ariza to start. His defense is something we need at the beginning of games to set the tone to play good defense. He is in the Rick Fox mode, although Walton has begun to play well.

[Medvedenko]

Yes Ariza has been awesome and rarely makes bonehead plays and plays within himself which couldn't be said about Cook or Evans.

[CavsSuperFan]

Ariza is very quick & has a nasty in your face dunk…

[LakeShow]

Yes Ariza has been awesome and rarely makes bonehead plays and plays within himself which couldn't be said about Cook or Evans.

Cook, hmmm...you notice he can't get any playing time with Orlando? Who would have thunk that?

[m33p0]

I remember when the trade for Ariza went down, alot of Laker fans were skeptical about him. Looks like the Lakers FO made a bold and brilliant move. It is certainly paying off.

[stretch]

all this talk of needing one more player is hogwash to me. I really don't think the lakers need to add another player, only if it doesn't destroy our chemistry.

They are very good, but they definitely need another solid player/scoring option. There are too many good teams in the west that will still be very good for years to come, such as Dallas, New Orleans, Utah, Portland, San Antonio, etc... and others with youthful talent that could blossom very quickly such as Minnesota and Seattle.

[Findog]

The West is so stacked that you're not going to get any cupcakes in the first round, but I definitely don't want to see the Lakers. After Avery was thoroughly outcoached by Nellie and Riles, how would he do against JackZen? They defend well, they have a true low-post scoring option, and you know Kobe is going to be a nightmare to defend against. Lakers could easily take out the Mavs.

[stretch]

The West is so stacked that you're not going to get any cupcakes in the first round, but I definitely don't want to see the Lakers. After Avery was thoroughly outcoached by Nellie and Riles, how would he do against JackZen? They defend well, they have a true low-post scoring option, and you know Kobe is going to be a nightmare to defend against. Lakers could easily take out the Mavs.

IMO Jackson isnt really a strategist the way Nellie is. And I don't think Riley outcoached Avery at all. I felt that the Mavericks did the things they were supposed to, to beat Miami, but shots they normally hit were not going down.

[Findog]

IMO Jackson isnt really a strategist the way Nellie is. And I don't think Riley outcoached Avery at all. I felt that the Mavericks did the things they were supposed to, to beat Miami, but shots they normally hit were not going down.

I respectfully disagree. The Lakers had no business taking the Suns to seven games two years ago but they did it by implementing a solid game-plan, pound it down low to Kwame, have Kobe take on the facillitator role, etc. And while Riley is a huge bag, he made some adjustments that along with Wade helped turn the series. He gave more burn to Alonzo, he made sure Antoine Walker played point-forward instead of hoisting up threes. In fact, I'm pretty sure the Mavs would've won the Finals if the coaches switched rosters. Same with the first-round series last year. Not that Avery's a bad coach by any means, but I think Nellie and Riles worked him like a punching bag.

[stretch]

I respectfully disagree. The Lakers had no business taking the Suns to seven games two years ago but they did it by implementing a solid game-plan, pound it down low to Kwame, have Kobe take on the facillitator role, etc. And while Riley is a huge bag, he made some adjustments that along with Wade helped turn the series. He gave more burn to Alonzo, he made sure Antoine Walker played point-forward instead of hoisting up threes. In fact, I'm pretty sure the Mavs would've won the Finals if the coaches switched rosters. Same with the first-round series last year. Not that Avery's a bad coach by any means, but I think Nellie and Riles worked him like a punching bag.

I agree that Nellie definitely outcoached him. I still don't feel that Riley really outcoached Avery. I look at it this way... the Mavericks missed a LOT of shots they normally make that series, and Miami hit a LOT of shots they normally miss that series (such as Walker and Jason Williams hitting 3's left and right, when normally they are black holes) and they still won three of their games by 3 or less points, and then there was all the officiating controversy revolving Miami and the officials. If ONE PERSON on the Mavs, such as Terry or Dirk simply hit a couple shots each game that they normally hit in those games, the Mavericks win that series in 5 or 6. I don't think that has to do with coaching. It wasn't like they dominated Dallas in any way, shape, or form.

As for the Lakers, I personally feel that it was the Suns lack of defense, rebounding, and the fact that D'Antoni is a TERRIBLE coach that put them in a bad situation, as opposed to Jackson outcoaching D'Antoni. Being a Dallas fan, we of all people should know that when you play no defense, don't rebound, and shoot mostly jumpshots, that even crappy teams can sneak up on you, and give you a tough series, that they have no business taking 7 games, such as the TrailBlazers in 02-03. That wasn't Nellie being outcoached. It was the fact that the Mavericks system and personel had some MAJOR holes in it, much like the Suns in 05-06.

[ambchang]

Brown and Farmer/Crit's name has been mentioned for Oneal. Oneal would be nice but I wouldn't get rid of our guards if at all possible.

Any GM in the league would trade Brown and Farmer/Crit for J O'Neal in a 4-straight-100m-dash-after-seeing-Jessica-Alba-naked heartbeat.

[LakeShow]

Any GM in the league would trade Brown and Farmer/Crit for J O'Neal in a 4-straight-100m-dash-after-seeing-Jessica-Alba-naked heartbeat.

I guess that's why I'm not a GM, I wouldn't do it for a player that is always hurt.

[LakeShow]

They are very good, but they definitely need another solid player/scoring option. There are too many good teams in the west that will still be very good for years to come, such as Dallas, New Orleans, Utah, Portland, San Antonio, etc... and others with youthful talent that could blossom very quickly such as Minnesota and Seattle.

The Lakers are 3rd in the league in Offense, averaging 107.5, 4th in the league in Rebounding. Defensively they are getting better. Why disrupt that?

[stretch]

The Lakers are 3rd in the league in Offense, averaging 107.5, 4th in the league in Rebounding. Defensively they are getting better. Why disrupt that?

They are going to need a third true scoring option if Kobe and Bynum are having a bad game. No one else on that team is realiable on any given night for 20, except maybe Fisher, but that's not enough. Just take a look at the Spurs. Typically you need three guys on every night to give you around 15+. The Spurs have Manu, Tim, and Tony. And if one of them are off, then they still got guys that can score like Finley or Barry, or in past years, guys like Horry, Steven Jackson, etc...

That was a major problem with the Mavericks, was that they didn't have enough bench scorers to pick up the slack if one of our main 3 guys (Dirk, Howard, Terry) were off. Stack was too inconsistent, and Harris had no jumpshot.

I think that the Lakers are just one solid scorer away from being a true le contender. I think they should make a move for someone like Bonzi Wells.

[BacktoBasics]

I refuse to believe that Kenny Smith knows that many words from the english language.

[Medvedenko]

They have Lamar as their go to guy for a second or third option if needed. The lakers are 8-1 when Kobe scores 20 or less......not bad balance...

[LakeShow]

They are going to need a third true scoring option if Kobe and Bynum are having a bad game. No one else on that team is realiable on any given night for 20, except maybe Fisher, but that's not enough. Just take a look at the Spurs. Typically you need three guys on every night to give you around 15+. The Spurs have Manu, Tim, and Tony. And if one of them are off, then they still got guys that can score like Finley or Barry, or in past years, guys like Horry, Steven Jackson, etc...

That was a major problem with the Mavericks, was that they didn't have enough bench scorers to pick up the slack if one of our main 3 guys (Dirk, Howard, Terry) were off. Stack was too inconsistent, and Harris had no jumpshot.

I think that the Lakers are just one solid scorer away from being a true le contender. I think they should make a move for someone like Bonzi Wells.

Well i respectfully disagree. Odom and Fisher can make up for the 3rd option. The Lakers did it with Shaq and Kobe for back to back to back les with a combination of players for the 3rd option. I see no reason why that can not work now, especially with everybody else contributing.