The Best in the West: The Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers are the second winningest team in the NBA with fourteen championships. They trail their archrivals, the Boston Celtics by three crowns. The Lakers were originally named the Detroit Gems then became the Minneapolis Lakers and eventually the Los Angeles Lakers. This team has stars galore and many of the games greatest players suited up in Laker uniform. Some of them I would list under "Famous Lakers"

While the Lakers were a force early in the new millennium with Shaq and Kobe and later Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton, 2004 marked a rebuilding year for the Lakers as they missed the playoffs. This was then followed two seasons of being whipping boys of the Phoenix suns. Finally with the infamous, fire sale of Pau Gasol by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008, the Lakers began to be relevant again. They were however beaten by the defense oriented Boston Celtics in six games. Now it is time to evaluate the Laker's chances this season.

Famous Lakers

George Mikan (the game's first superstar)Wilt Chamberlain (the guy who scored 100 points)

Jerry West (the guy on the NBA logo)Elgin Baylor (one of the best scorers of all time)

Magic Johnson (one of the best point guards of all time)Karl Malone (one of the greatest power forwards of all time)

Gary Payton (one of the best defensive point guards of all time)Shaquille O' Neil (most dominant ever)

Kobe Bryant (according to media outlets he is Jordan's heir apparent)

Current Roster

Andrew Bynum
Pau Gasol
Lamar Odom
Kobe Bryant
Derek Fisher
Trevor Ariza
Shannon Brown
Jordan Farmar
Didier Ilunga-Mbenga
Adam Morrison
Josh Powell
Sasha Vujacic
Luke Walton
Sun Yue

Positives

-The Lakers are tall! Me and my friend actually call the Lakers "redwoods" because of their height! Picture this there are only three players smaller than 6'6." These are Shannon Brown. Jordan Farmar and Derek Fisher. The rest are really tall. Add to that the fact that the Lakers has a triumvirate of seven footers namely Gasol, Odom and Ilunga-Mbenga.-The Lakers have a deep bench. Imagine having a talent like Lamar Odom coming off the bench or having the luxury of people like Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton coming from your reserve corps.

-The Lakers have Kobe. Nobody could stop Kobe one on one. He is simply too good. He is too tall for many guards. He is too fast for bigger men. He has shooting range beyond the three point line. He also has athleticism and a high leaping ability. To add to that, Kobe could SCORE! He is a one man wrecking crew.-The Lakers have a bomb squad. Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton could all shoot threes when needed. This spaces the floor and allows big men to operate.

-The Big Four. The Lakers have four all-star caliber players in Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom.-The Lakers are young. Kobe and Fisher are the only senior citizens here with twelve years apiece. The average years in the NBA of this team is approximately five years. The average age is approximately twenty six years of age. There is a huge window of opportunity in Lakerland.

-Phil Jackson is one of the best coaches of all time. He has one of the highest winning percentages and is tied with Red Auerbach with nine championship rings.

Negatives

-The Lakers are not a good defensive team. As much as the Lakers have plenty of firepower, they are nowhere near the class of the San Antonio spurs, the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Boston Celtics.-The Lakers are soft. As much as the Lakers are tall in stature, they are creampuffs. Pau Gasol could easily get bullied by Kevin Garnett and do you remember Sasha Vujacic getting schooled by Ray Allen in the Finals? Yep, he cried afterwards.

-Andrew Bynum's knee. Andrew Bynum is a very good center but keeps on getting injured. No use being a great player when you can't play.

Forecast

It looks like the Los Angeles Lakers are going to repeat as the best in the West with its sterling win-loss record. I am pretty much sure the Lakers will reach deep in the playoffs. The teams they should watch out for are the San Antonio Spurs (yep it's an odd year again and they win championships on odd-numbered years), the Houston Rockets (a very good defensive team) and the Denver Nuggets (Chauncey Billups has indeed revived this franchise). I believe though that the Laker's height and depth will crush the opposition.Whether they win the Larry O' Brien Trophy however, is another story. The East has some tough cookies in Boston, Cleveland and Orlando. Any of these three teams will give the Lakers a run for their money. Boston and Cleveland have talented rosters and play great defense. Orlando meanwhile has a triple threat in Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu.

Add to this fact that the East is much weaker than the West. Teams that have a below .500 mark could easily get into the playoffs in the East while teams above .500 could not even get into the playoffs in the west. The East is top heavy with Boston, Cleveland and Orlando and the rest are average teams with only six to seven teams with winning records. The west meanwhile has nine teams with winning records.Also since more of the teams are talented in the west, sweeps are not as likely in the west so teams have to fight tooth and nail to get out of the west. This leaves a battered and bruised western team against a fresher eastern team who most likely has beaten up patsies to get through. Barring injuries, it is very much possible for eastern teams to sweep the first two rounds of the playoffs and therefore get much needed rest.

Given that plus Andrew Bynum's injury, I predict the Lakers to finish second once again to an Eastern team. Most probably it would be Cleveland or Boston. This may not bode well for Laker fans but the Lakers are still young and have the money to spend. With the recession, another team is bound to be holding a fire sale sometime soon. If that's the case the Lakers will be ready and waiting.

© TheChosen1. Review is published in other sites under the same name

-Previously published in Ciao and Dooyoo
-The Lakers information was sourced from Lakers.com