NBA Review: The Los Angeles Lakers

We are approaching 30 games into the season of the NBA and we have a Laker team who nobody really expected to be good, especially after their implosion against the Suns in the first round. Well they have been pretty good this year, hovering around that 4th and 5th seed. But how good have they really been? I'm going to breakdown how well each player, and how well the Lakers have done this season.

Sasha Vujacic - PPG 2.6 APG .6 FG% 30

Making a run at being the worst player in the league. Sasha Vujacic is absolutely useless. I cringe every time he gets the ball. I don't understand why he is even an NBA player. The one thing he is supposedly suppose to be good at, which is shooting, and he can't do that well either. If the Laker's front office was smart, they'd get some other point guard to fill in the Laker's third point guard position, or start playing Shammond Williams.

Grade: F

Kobe Bryant - PPG 28.7 APG 5.0 RPG 5.3 FG% 48.7

Ironically, we may have the best and worst players on the Lakers. Kobe Bryant of course ahead of schedule, nobody expected to put up some of the numbers he's put up when he supposedly is not suppose to be 100 % until around the all-star game. If this is him sub-100% then he will be absolutely scary post all-star. Kobe has made more balance between his great scoring and distributing. With his shots down, and using better shot selection. Much like Lamar Odom. He's Doing his best he can while Lamar Odom is out, and who will be out until mid-January, he's been putting up some monster stats in the last several game he's played. But can we expect him to keep this up? He's definitely not 100% stamina wise, and now he has to play a huge amount of minutes running the offense, and getting offense himself. Nevertheless, he's been great the whole season he's played.

Grade: A+

Lamar Odom - PPG 17.5 APG 4.9 RPG 8.7 FG% 47.4

He has been excellent for the Lakers this season. He's been running Phil Jackson's triangle offense since last season, and no doubt he's been much improved since then. He's finally came into his role and has made balance between scorer and distributor. This is something he struggled with much last season. He is scheduled to be out for at least a month with a knee injury which will no doubt hurt the Lakers. He's there best rebounder and he has been running their offense. The Lakers will also lose their 2nd best scorer.

Grade: A+

Vladimir Radmonovic - PPG 6.5 RPG 3.0 3PT% 39.5

He was brought in to spread the floor for the Lakers. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to do that due to an injury to his hand. He will hopefully benefit the much Lakers more when he gets better. But until then, Luke Walton will, and he has stepped up his role as the starting forward.

Grade: C

Luke Walton - PPG 12.8 APG 4.8 RPG 4.3 FG% 51 3PT% 51

Another surprise for the Lakers, Luke Walton wasn't originally suppose to be starting, instead it was supposed to be Vladimir Radmonovic. He definitely stepped up his game since he was implemented into the starting lineup. He's one of the few players on the Lakers who fully understand the offense, he's a good passer, and one of the biggest surprises is that he is one of the leaders in 3 point field goal percentage this season. This will likely go down, but Luke Walton even at 40% is spectacular for him. His shooting was the biggest knock on his game, and he's definitely improved since his rookie season. Which has in turn, improved the Lakers.

Grade: A

Smush Parker - PPG 10.7 APG 2.7 SPG 1.3

He was a surprise for the Lakers last year, and he's a good scorer for them now, but the Lakers don't need him. His scoring is useful, but his horrible perimeter defense has "trumped" his good scoring. Granted, he can get into the passing lanes well with those long arms of his, but he can't keep up with those quick point guards in the west, such as Tony Parker, Jason Terry, and Steve Nash. The Lakers won't be able to do a lot playoffs because if they run into one of these teams, which is inevitable, those 3 players will have big series' against them.

Grade: C+

Andrew Bynum - PPG 7.3 RPG 5.3 BPG 1.3

Developing into a good player with the help of great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Andrew Bynum has better footwork as a 19 year old then most veteran big men in the NBA now. He still needs to work on his finishing, even though he is improving. His length enables him to be a very good rebounder, and blocker, and will definitely with his post game. Right now he's been a pretty good player, but inconsistent. His inconsistency and inexperience have been holding him back a little this year.

Grade: C+

Jordan Farmar - PPG 6.5 APG 2.4 3PT 35%

I'm really liking Jordan Farmar this year. These two young players in Farmar and Bynum that the Lakers have might be a really good thing in the future. Who knows, the next great duo? Jordan Farmar has a real good sense of the game. Not like Chris Paul had when he came into the league, but he definitely does. I'd say the time that he's getting from Phil Jackson is pretty good considering Jackson doesn't really like playing rookies. He was great in the rookie draft camp where his athleticism was off the charts. He's a good shooter, and okay defender, but his inexperience and inconsistency, like Bynum are the things that hold him back.

Grade: B

Brian Cook - PPG 5.3 RPG 3.1

Good shooter, and if he could give more he'd be better for the Lakers. He's a nice bench player, especially if you need some instant offense, because is one of the best spot up shooters in the league.

Grade: C

Kwame Brown - PPG 8.4 RPG 6.5 BPG 1.1

Good post defender, but hasn't been much else so far. Where's the Kwame Brown we saw during the end of the season last year? Right now, his post game is looking like it's reverting back to the "old" Kwame, and he still has no hands. Don't even get me started on his abysmal free throw shooting. He's been underachieving on the boards this year, where he has the potential to be an 8-9 rebounding guy for the Lakers, especially since that's all they ask of him.. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt though, he suffered a shoulder injury that he's still going through right now.

Grade: D

Maurice Evans - PPG 6.2 APG .9 RPG 2.2

He has been okay for the Lakers coming off the bench for the Lakers. He is suppose to be a good defender, but it's something he hasn't really shown as of late. He has great jumping ability, but for some reason, doesn't want to use it. He decides to take pull up jumpers 5 feet from the rim when he has the ability to slam it down on the opposition. He also needs to learn his range, he is not a good 3PT shooter, he's a mid-range shooter. Until he learns that, he wont be successful for this team.

Grade: C

Laker Offense
Phil Jackson's triangle offense, which he adapted from Tex Winter has won Jackson many championships. Nine to be exact. The Lakers don't look like a championship team right now, but they are certainly looking good offensively this year. The Lakers run one of the best offenses in the league. They are top 5 in points per game, field goal percentage and assists per game at 104 PPG, 47.9 FG%, and 23.8 APG. The one area they need to work on though, is taking care of the basketball. They are dead last in turnovers per game at 17. The only reason that's been working is because they are so efficient on the offensive end. But that's definitely not going to get it done in the long run. The triangle offense, and with Kobe who can go off offensively like on other in the league, the Lakers are one of the scariest offensive teams in the league.

Offensive Grade: B+

Laker Defense
This is where the Lakers definitely need to work on. They give up over 100 points a game, which is very bad, and it has a lot to do with the fact that they give up lots of turnovers, they cannot guard the point guard position or deny penetration. Smush Parker is a lot to blame with them not guarding the point guard spot well. This is why Smush Parker is not needed a huge amount. His scoring is good, but the bad defense he plays against point guards makes the Lakers a bad team defensively. The Lakers need to make an effort to get another point guard who can play defense and shoot the open three. They don't have a shot blocker most of the game. Their only true shot blocker is Andrew Bynum who only plays 18 minutes a game. Kwame Brown is usually a good post defender, but that shoulder injury might be putting a damper on that. Fortunately, the Lakers have a chance to turn their defensive weaknesses around since we aren't even half into the season yet.

Defensive Grade: D

So far, the Lakers have been overachieving as far as their record goes. Nobody expected them to be this good, this early. Many critics didn't expect them to be this good at all. They are a young team, and I definitely expect them to improve as the season progresses. They are a great offensive team. But if they ever want to reach that elite status as a team, they definitely have many things they need to work on.

Lakers Overall Grade: B