Early Christmas Present

Just this morning, Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports wrote in his daily, ongoing blog "Ball Don't Lie" about the upcoming return of Lakers center Andrew Bynum and what this will mean to a Lakers club that started out as hot as ever, but a weak front line that features PAU GASOL, LAMAR ODOM, and Derek Caracter brings them to the fourth-seeded team in the West. Dwyer notes the improvement of defense. Agreed. Though Pau Gasol's finesse and court awareness ranks him as one of the best big men today, his defense does not shine as bright, especially if he's ask asked to anchor the Lakers defense as the starting center. And with Bynum back as a weak-side shot blocker, Lakers' defensive efficiency will rise to the top five it should be at. Dwyer notes the consistency of Pau Gasol will come back. After an MVP-caliber first eight games that helped boast a team record of 8-0, Gasol has come back to Earth - maybe even a bit fatigued. And who can blame him? He's asked to play almost 40 minutes a game, since the Lakers bench includes many guards and small forwards, but absolutely no big men. Well, except rookie Derek Caracter who is receiving big-time minutes (with the absence of both Bynum and center Theo Ratliff) but not producing as well as a professional should (even though he's a rookie). With Bynum back, Gasol will go back to playing 30 minutes and producing the efficiency he should be.

And then Dwyer includes in his post that with Bynum back, this 2010-2011 Lakers team will be the best since the 1980s Showtime Lakers. This bold statement challenges the authority that the 2000 Lakers commanded, headlined with a dominant Shaquille O'Neal and rising star Kobe Bryant. To me, the argument comes down like this:

Superstars: 2000 edges 2010. Whenever you have the best player in the league (O'Neal) and another top 5 player in the league (Bryant), you're going to have a high chance of being great. Unless, of course, you're the Miami Heat.

Supporting Cast: Aside from O'Neal and Bryant, the 2000 Lakers did not have much else. Though forward Robert Horry provided some heroic moments in the playoffs and forward Rick Fox did all that he could on the defensive end, 2010's supporting cast is headlined with a dominant Andrew Bynum, a versatile Lamar Odom, and a rugged Ron Artest.

The two teams are probably similar in everything else, when it comes to offense, defense, rebounding, etc. It's a toss up, so I'm not going to pick one or the other. I need to see if 2010 has what it takes to three-peat; if they do, let the talks begin.


- Leather Head