The Lakers have now returned from training camp in Hawaii and I had expected to hear more reports on the team. Instead, we ended up having a whirlwind of comments about Kobe due to the Jerry Buss comments.
How does this give the Lakers Nation a positive view on the upcoming season?Certainly for most Laker fans there are questions in their mind as to what training camp was all about for the Lakers. The key questions that I can point out are:
- How is the battle of the centers developing between Chris Mihm and Andrew Byum.
- What progress is Lamar and Kwame making in their recoveries and how long before they will be able to play?
- Is Turiaf’s play supporting Phil’s comments of possibly starting Turiaf?
- Radmanovic has played well in the two preseason games. Is he making a case to get some of Luke’s playing time.
- How is Luke coping with losing his starting position?
- How is the competition for minutes developing between Fisher, Farmar, and Crittenton?
I have a few answers of my own that are plausible:
- Mihm is still the starting center but Bynum continues to battle for the spot. Phil goes with experience and outside shot with Mihm. Also, Phil knows that Bynum gets a little complacent when rewarded too early.
- Lamar is expected to participate in at least one preseason game. He is practicing with the team at present. Kwame is a tissue paper player and will milk his injury as long as he can. When he recovers he will come out and have 1-10 dazzling games, just enough to make the excuses seem plausible.
- Turiaf will retain his role of coming off the bench and providing energy. We need him when the game bogs down and he gets into early foul trouble when he starts. He will play well with the second unit, who will pull us out of a few lackluster games with their hustle and heart.
- Radmanovic is making a case to take some of Luke’s minutes but he will come off the bench to play with Turiaf, Farmar, and Sasha. They will be our running-and-gunning unit with the emphasis on gunning. Luke will keep his starting spot based on Phil’s man crush and the fact that he passes well and knows his triangle. The first unit will execute and the second unit will excite (and frustrate).
- Luke will get his starting position back as soon as Vladmir starts straying from what Phil wants to see. Despite the fact that he can shoot and he is much faster, Phil gets easily frustrated with him, so I don’t expect the experiment to last.
- Fish will get most of the minutes (hope he continues to shoot well. he looked like the old cook out there). Farmar will get the bulk of the rest. We will have sporadic sightings of Crittenton but he won’t be given the minutes or freedom he had in preseason.
Feel free to post your own answers to the questions Laker fans want answering.