<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">2005 OVERVIEW The Lakers are in the midst of an interesting project. After the disaster that was the 2004-05 season, Lakers management knew there was no choice but to actively rebuild the roster. They drafted their center of the future, then 17-year-old Andrew Bynum, with the tenth overall pick, traded for 23-year-old Kwame Brown and rewarded 24-year-old Smush Parker?s impressive training camp with the starting point guard job. The Lakers also decided to show faith in the progression of 25-year-old Lamar Odom, hoping he could transform into a true second star behind Kobe Bryant. It?s rare to see a lottery team push a youth movement and still expect to make the playoffs the following year, but that was the goal. The average age of the starting lineup was just a hair over 25. A year later, with a successful playoff appearance under their belts, it looks like it was a wise decision. The Phoenix Suns did knock them out of the first round, but the Lakers pushed it to seven games and were even up three games to one at one point. A pessimist might notice the end result and call it a collapse, but they brought a 54-win team to the brink of elimination when many wondered if they would even win a game. In an attempt to build on this end-of-the-season momentum, the team made the decision that more firepower was needed. Vladimir Radmanovic was signed to a five-year, $31 million free agent deal, and the move represented management?s line of thinking: the Lakers can be a threat in the Western Conference without abandoning the long-term rebuilding process, as Radmanovic is just 26 years of age. With their first-round draft pick, they selected Jordan Farmar, a 19-year-old point guard out of UCLA. Farmar is raw but explosive, and one can again see the long-term plan for the franchise in the logic behind this selection. By keeping the team competitive yet still building for the future, the Lakers prevent a losing atmosphere from permeating the traditionally successful franchise and give the young players much-needed experience. ADDITIONS: Vladimir Radmanovic, PF Jordan Farmar, PG Shammond Williams, PG Maurice Evans, SG J.R. Pinnock, G LOSSES: Devean George, SF PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: C ? Kwame Brown PF ? Lamar Odom SF ? Vladimir Radmanovic SG ? Kobe Bryant PG ? Smush Parker WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2006 Yeah, I?m sure you know it?s Kobe?s team, but in the playoffs, we saw an odd sight indeed: Kobe not shooting. Kobe averaged more than 27 shot attempts per game in the regular season in 41 minutes per game. In the playoffs, he shot less than 22 times per contest despite nearly 45 minutes played per game. While it was a small sample size ? just seven games ? and it was mainly due to a concentrated effort to pound the ball inside against an undersized team, it could be a harbinger of things to come. Radmanovic has no problem shooting the rock, and he shoots it well from the outside ? he made almost 42 percent of his three-pointers. The much-maligned Kwame Brown played exceedingly well in the second half of the season. It?s still Kobe?s team but don?t be surprised to see more production from the role players. What was lost in the shuffle of all of Kobe?s scoring antics is that Phil Jackson did a great job of molding this collection of young talent into a team with an identity. Jackson has always preached defense for his teams, and later in the year it started to pay off. After allowing Sacramento to score 114 points on March 14, they allowed just two other teams to score more than 100 points - one of which was an overtime game, and the other a game against the Suns. As a whole, they allowed just 94.3 points per game during their last 17 regular season games, and even held the Suns under their season average for the first four games in their playoff series. For comparison purposes, that would put them eighth in the league in opponent points per game. Radmanovic is by no means a defensive improvement, but if they can be a top ten defensive team in the league, the Lakers become one of the best sleeper teams in the league. KEY BENCH PLAYERS / POSITION BATTLES Kwame Brown seemed to gain Phil Jackson?s faith as the season wore on and did start 49 games, but Chris Mihm, the normal starting center, missed 23 games with an injury. Mihm has been injury prone throughout his career ? in seven seasons, he?s missed 23 or more games five times and has never played a full season. In addition, he is a free agent after this season, so this season should be the year where Brown fully takes over the center position. Of course, most people expected Brown to start at the beginning of last year, but he ended up in the doghouse until January. Jackson has no problem showing tough love toward Brown, so make sure Brown is in shape and ready to play when training camp hits. PLAYERS WE LOVE Kwame Brown, how thou teases. Say it with me: this is the year Brown establishes himself as a viable NBA starter. As noted earlier, Kwame flourished once January hit, and while he still showed inconsistency, he was slowly improving: he scored double digits 18 times out of 22 games, including the playoffs. Kwame became very efficient from the field as he shot nearly 59 percent in 30 games after the All-Star break, averaging 29.6 minutes per game. In his last 31 games ? from March on, including the playoffs ? he averaged 11.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.7 blocks, and shot a whopping 58.2 percent from the field. Those are more than adequate numbers for your third center, and because Brown is disliked by so many fantasy owners, you won?t have any problem landing him late in your draft. If Brown gets even a few more shot attempts per game, or a few more minutes per game, he could get you 15 points and eight rebounds ? something only four centers did last season. The best player in the playoff series versus the Suns was not Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, or Boris Diaw. It was the enigma Lamar Odom, who mixes in occasional greatness with frustrating inconsistency. Odom went off on the Suns, routinely torching Shawn Marion in the post. Odom averaged 19.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 blocks, and shot nearly 50 percent from the field to boot. While he did have many factors in his favor in the series ? the Suns? undersized front court and tempo-pushing offense helped, as well as the Lakers? dedication to their front court ? Odom was incredible the entire second half of the season. He averaged 16.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.7 blocks, 1.2 three-pointers, and shot 53 percent from the floor after the All-Star break?eye-popping numbers. While some of it has to be attributed to playing over his head (there?s no way Odom is a 43 percent shooter from beyond the arc), one can?t entirely write it off. Odom is talented enough to put up these kind of numbers and more. Odom thrived in his second year under Phil Jackson and the triangle offense; he was extremely efficient, the team?s best rebounder, and the emphasis on spacing and ball movement resulted in the second-highest assist average of his career. A motivated Odom can be one of the best players in the league, and if he can manage to stay healthy again, Odom?s name will be thrown into list of elite fantasy performers. Only six players in the entire NBA averaged at least 1.5 three-pointers and 1.5 steals per game: LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Gilbert Arenas, Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones, and Smush Parker. Only Parker played in all 82 games. For an undrafted free agent, a 24-year-old just looking for a roster spot, to do that? Parker even has upside ? don?t forget that this was the first significant playing time he has ever had in his career. It showed at times, and he did seem to tire: he shot just 39.7 percent in April, and an even worse 33.3 percent in seven playoff games. A full season under his belt should help him, and note the in-season improvement ? his field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, and assists all improved. The Lakers are still thin at point guard (Farmar is a year or two away and Shammond Williams is merely a bench stop gap), so Parker will be reprising the same role he had last year. Feel confident with Parker as your number two point guard. PLAYERS TO AVOID One-trick ponies can bring value, but there?s something about Vladimir Radmanovic: he offers almost nothing of value outside of three-pointers, yet still gets taken much earlier in drafts than he should. There is nothing inherently wrong with Radmanovic ? he?s all right for what he does ? but players who only get three-pointers and do little else are not a rare commodity. Radmanovic?s defensive problems often put him in a coach?s doghouse ? he?s too big and bulky to defend small forwards, but not physical enough to give power forwards a tough time. Phil Jackson has no problem laying down the law against any player who looks uncommitted, and he has Brian Cook to do virtually the same thing as Radmanovic ? Cook is a career 39.6 percent shooter from long-range. BOTTOM LINE Phil Jackson has done a great job of guiding one of the youngest teams in the league to be a competitive one. Last year was a learning process for many of the players, and while they learned, Kobe Bryant gunned up the shots and points to take the pressure off them. Now, armed with playoff experience, a full season of learning from Jackson and more confidence, expect more help for Kobe. Odom is making that jump from a good NBA player to a borderline great one, and both Smush Parker and Kwame Brown should be better than last year to cement themselves as serviceable fantasy starters. Do not expect too much from Radmanovic, though; Phil Jackson likes what he knows, and he knows Luke Walton and Brian Cook better than Radmanovic. As a whole, this team is deeper and more experienced than last year. Instead of respectability, the goal is to make a push for home court in the playoffs. It?s not too far out of their grasps. </div> Link Nice little read, but I don't agree with the part when he says Radman will contribute as much as Walton and Cook. Radman will be able to spread the floor and hit the big shots when Kobe is double teamed. I honestly dont see Cook being much of a factor this season at all. With Radman, Cook is pretty much expandable since they are both big man shooters.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Do not expect too much from Radmanovic, though; Phil Jackson likes what he knows, and he knows Luke Walton and Brian Cook better than Radmanovic.</div> He's basically saying if Radmanovic screws up, He'll insert either Luke or Cookie in the starting lineup.
