team analysis: Pacific Division

lakers:

kobe kobe kobe. the best player on the planet, the most polarizing player in the NBA. the biggest story for this team is obviously the future of kobe as a laker, after he publicly demanded a trade and recinded it and demanded it and recinded it. good times all around. i won't believe kobe will be traded until he wears a uniform without the words "Lakers" in the front. he's more than just a basketball player for the Lakers organization. he's the star power that make the Lakers relevant in fickle LA, and there's no other players who can fill in his shoes outside the basketball court (unless they can get 2-3 all stars back in return).

as for the rest of the team, there really isn't much. lamar odom is another do-it-all talent who just can't get a break from terrible string of bad luck in his life. his game actually compliment kobe's, and he is probably more instrumental to the team sucess than kobe because he sets up the offense, and he is a big body who can take it inside but is just as comfortable outside. bynum is another year older and he is getting better with his kareem-taught post moves. derek fisher's return provided the team with much needed veteran leadership (especially important at the point) and outside shooting. his addition cannot be underestimated.

the sucess of the team hinges greatly on the development of the youngsters on the team. that would mean kobe dialing back a little and encouraging his teammate to play within phil's triangle (which is the same song we all sang for 2+ years). i don't think i've ever seen phil with so little control of his team, so unless there's some sort of break through in team meetings, expecting them to struggle the rest of the way, and maybe barely sneaking into the playoff.

warriors:

after last year's unbelievable and improbable surge near the end of the season that had the warriors sneaking into the playoff for the great upset of the mavs in the first round, it seems like it's going to be a letdown year this season. GSW favorite son jason richardson was shipped to charlotte for mr brandan wright, who may become the future big man of the franchise. i assume the warriors are thinking they need to create room for monta ellis to shine, which i don't really object to. al harrington, stephen jackson, matt barnes, and pietrus are all going to continue their do-everything style of play. (last year this time jax was being torched for shooting a gun in the air after some nightclub incident, and this year he's one of the tri-captains of the warriors. amazing difference a year made.) i have high hopes for italian import belinelli, who should fit right in with warriors' run-and-gun style of play. andris biedrins should build on last year's sucess, and learn to stay out of foul trouble, as warriors have close to zero big man and they need him for easy buckets and defense/rebounding.

however, as we all know, warriors go as baron goes. he was magnificent in last year's playoff, and will need to bring the same intensity and leadership (not to mention the scoring and directing traffic) for the warriors to have same type of sucess as last year. they have a good chance of making the playoff, but is not a team that's built for the postseason. in fact, there's a very good chance that they won't make it this year. the top 6 teams in the west are set, and i think hornets are going to make it as the 7th seed this year, which leaves one spot for lakers and warriors to fight for. i have more faith in kobe and phil than baron's shaky health and nelson's system. good luck to them though.

clippers:

elton brand is a certified low-post/rebounding all star and shaun livingston is an exciting up-and-coming point guard. too bad they are in street clothes now and can't exactly help out the clips. they still have a decent lineup with kaman in the middle, maggette at the 3, cat mobley at the 2, and sam cassell running the show. however, kaman has been inconsistent at best since he got the contract last year, maggette is still being shopped around, and cassell is starting to be too old to play significant minutes. good thing they signed brevin knight, right? they have the talent to get into the postseason, just not exactly the right mix. elton brand is the engine and the glue for this squad, so if he comes back and get himself back to 100%, they can still fight for the last playoff spot. but so far there's still no update when exactly he'll be back, so that chance is slim.

kings:

mike bibby, kevin martin, ron artest, shareef abdur-rahim, brad miller. that's a pretty good starting 5, right? however this team became completely irrelevant the past year after their stella playoff series with the spurs, and seems to continue this depressing trend this year. new coach reggie theus won't be able to make anything out of this team. wtf happened with the kings?

suns:

off the top of my head, i can't think of a better starting line up in the L. Phoenix boosts 3 current all-stars (one of which is a 2 time MVP, and one that can become an MVP in about 2-3 years) and a former all-star. everyone knows about their exciting high octane offense and their regular season sucess. with this team it's about getting a championship, though it doesn't seem like their off season moves had increase the chance. in fact i think it has gone backward.

granted mr grant hill will be a very valuable addition to this team with his all around game, but trading away kurt thomas for money reason is terrible, as he was the only post defender the suns had. aside from Amare, the only big men they have are sean marks and brian skinner. basically amare is the sole big man on the suns squad, and with his tender knees, how can you bank on him guarding duncan for a full 7 game series after the 82 game season (and at least a series or two before the suns meet the spurs)? if somehow they advance past the spurs, the championship is theirs. simple as that.