Season Opener: L.A. vs. Denver: 11-2-05

Last night's game was a nail biter and I lost my voice this morning as a result. Kobe Bryant hitting the game winner in OT, what more can you ask for in the season opener. Seems like he does it once a year to the Nuggets, I can still clearly remember the shot he made over Jon Barry ... SWISH!

My impressions of the Lakers in their first game...

Kobe Bryant - Played terrible defense to start the game, Voshon Lenard was busting shots right in Kobe's face. He also back doored Kobe for an easy layup. Kobe was gambling a little too, much on defense and Lenard made him pay 4 straight times. Kobe did a much better job in the second half, especially that recovery off his turnover to block Camby's dunk attempt. I'd like to see Kobe more active on the offensive glass as well. On offense Kobe was getting hammered all night without any calls. Buckner is dirty player, he got away with hitting Kobe in the face four times. I'm glad Kobe stiff armed him in OT to let Buckner know he didn't appreciate the eye gauges. Kobe only shot one free throw the entire night until the end of the game. He finished with seven, but he should have had at least ten opportunities at the line. Kobe played flawless from midrange, but was getting tapped by the rim on some of his drives. He forced the issue a few times leading to 6 turnovers, but Kobe showed up when it counted and led the Lakers to victory.

Lamar Odom - The poor guy couldn't buy a break with the ball rolling in and out countless times. Odom had a rough 2-13 night on the court, but at least he improved at the FT line hitting 4 out of 5. I thought Odom played a solid game, he did miss a few opportunities to Kwame. I think he got discouraged giving Kwame the ball after Kwame fumbled a pass early in the game. Odom fired a no look pass to him from the top of the key and Kwame wasn't ready for it. Odom has really improved defensively and was playing the pick and roll very well. He kept forcing Miller and Boykins wide to disrupt the open shot or the open pass. Odom got in trouble a few times overplaying his man, most of the players on Denver have an explosive first step, and Odom couldn't recover. Odom really needs to get more aggressive when he's in the post though. A few times he had isolation in there, and instead of making a move to the basket he kicked it back out.

Kwame Brown - His stats weren't impressive, but Kwame played fairly well in the game. He was diving for loose balls and went after rebounds strong with two hands. You can tell he's still not comfortable defensively on the floor, but he made his presence felt on the court on both ends.

Smush Parker - He had the highlight of the night with his facial on Andre Miller. Straight nasty! Smush brought it all night long for the Lakers. He made half the three pointers he took, and airballed the other half. He didn't get dominated on defense by Miller or Boykins like he did in the preseason. Nice debut for him scoring 20 points, dishing out 6 assists, and chipping in with 4 rebounds.

Chris Mihm - Needs to come off the bench and is not a starter. How many times did he get back doored by Camby for the alley oop? At least 12 or so? It was absolutely ridiculous watching him get dunked on time after time. I'm just glad PJax has a short leash on him and yanked everytime he picked up a stupid foul. On offense everything seems to stop when Mihm touches the ball. He has no concept of the offense and is lacking the fundamentals. I think PJax is going to speed up the Andrew Bynum project by the 10th game if Mihm keeps playing ugly basketball.

Devean George - Great spark off the bench and frustrated Carmelo Anthony as soon as he subbed in for Mihm. He took Carmelo completely out of his game by crowding him and playing very physical. George also hit some huge 3point baskets to get the Lakers back into the game and helped out on the defensive glass. George should be a canidate for 6th man of the year because he's going to play 30+ minutes on most nights.

Brian Cook - He came in the game with a hot hand and hit three straight jumpshots. However, he picked up two cheap fouls and PJax benched the rest of the game. I was surprised Cookie wasn't used more in the second half when the Lakers were struggling on offense.

Aaron McKie - He's played himself out of minutes and is just taking up roster space at this point.

Sasha Vujacic - It's really time to deport him to the D-League and activate Devin Green. Two mindless turnovers in 11 minutes on the court. Sasha is completely lost on the court at all times. He took his eyes off the ball and it resulted in a backcourt violation, then he tried to throw an outlet pass to Kobe with three players in the area leading to a steal.

Laron Profit - When the Lakers acquired him, I didn't expect him to even make the team. After watching him all summer, he has been a bonus in the Kwame deal. Laron is a gamer and is disruptive on defense. He had 3 steals in 10 minutes, and was deflecting a lot of passes. Profit moves well without the ball and is money from 18 feet in. Even though Smush played great, I think Profit is a better fit as the starting point guard. Him and Kobe locked down the Nuggets backcourt in the 10 minutes Profit was on the court.

Andrew Bynum - I didn't expect him to play in the game unless it was a blow out. He only played 6 minutes, but it was a productive 6 minutes during a back and forth game. Bynum had two blocks from the weakside help and did a nice job of boxing out in the paint. On offense he showed some poise and great footwork, but just couldn't finish. Just a matter of time before he's on the floor with the starters, he's more comfortable in the offense than Mihm is.