<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Shaq trade was a bad move. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. But, like Dave Wannstedt says, you've got to move on. In the moments after the Shaquille deal went down, I saw only doom and gloom for the Lakers. But I've been out in the woodshed, doing my best Caractacus Potts, tinkering and scheming, and I think there's actually a chance they could be all right. There's even a chance they could be better than all right. There's even an outside chance they could be real good. Kobe 2.0 could lead the Lakers a long way. Hear me out ... For starters (assuming he isn't in prison), they've got Kobe Bryant. He's pretty good. And they don't just have Kobe Bryant; they have Kobe "They Said It Couldn't Be Done" Bryant. They have Robert Conrad as Kobe Bryant. They have Kobe Bryant as the young Cassius Clay. The Sports Guy is right about Shaq and the Vengeance Factor, but we shouldn't underestimate the Helen Reddy factor, either. That's right. I'm talking the "you and me against the world" factor. Kobe knows just about everyone is down on him. He knows they figure him for the punk who forced out the Daddy and Dr. Phil. He knows he's alone in this thing now, that's it's all on him now. And the thing is, he likes it like that. Hell, he loves it like that. He's at his best when it's like that. Look at the same-day games coming back from Colorado this year, when he had to have been feeling like the loneliest guy on the planet. And it won't just be the bunker mentality he'll have working for him this season, either. If he is acquitted at trial, opposing teams will be looking at a guy playing with new life, with a new appreciation for life. He'll be a house of fire, hungry and joyful every time he laces up. You put these two things -- a massive chip on his shoulder and a big, big bounce in his step -- together, and we may be looking at the very best of Kobe Bryant in the coming year. (Remember, he'll only be 26 years old when the season begins.) Which is saying something. But a great Kobe, great as he is and will be, won't be enough. Here's where things get tricky. Kobe's got to give a little to get a lot back. He's got to be less Kobe and more Kobe 2.0. Everyone expects this to be his team. Everyone expects he'll shoot more often than Mo Rocca strikes an ironic pose. That's his history. That's who he is. And, the thinking goes, with Shaq out of the mix, Kobe will own the ball, demand the ball, hold the ball, and be the ball every time down. The guys L.A. acquired for Shaq could mesh well with Kobe. Everyone knows this will happen. They know it like they knew Ali would jab and move in Zaire. (Sorry, side bet with my editors; if I work in two or more plausible Ali references in a Lakers column, I get a free toaster oven.) They know it the way Apollo knew Rocky was a southpaw. And because they know it, because every team the Lakers play will know it and will work up their double-team and swarm strategies to stop it, Kobe should come out like Balboa in the second fight, playing against type, passing when they think he's going to shoot, finding guys out of the double, throwing skip passes, working pick-and-rolls, driving and dishing. He doesn't need 40 a night. He needs 18 or 20, with maybe eight assists and nine boards every time out. He's got the skills and he'll have the element of surprise in the early going; and then, over the long haul, he'll have a balanced, tested, team offense full of guys who can score and aren't afraid of crunch time.</div> FULL STORY I agree with the fact the lakers will be better than everyone is expecting I dont know why they shouldnt be considered possibly contenders out west iko. They have youth and they have kobe they lost shaq that was a huge blow, but they have the peaces to be good.
