Print Article for : Los Angeles Times Lakers

Your Online Guide » Hobbies and Interests » Basketball Game

[L555]Los Angeles Times Lakers

by Chris Cabrea, Chr

The 2007 NBA draft has come and gone and the Los Angeles Lakers have begun integrating new players; Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol and Sun Yue. With the 19th pick, the Lakers selected promising Georgia Tech guard, Javaris Crittenton. The 6'5? 198lb Crittenton was a star point guard for Georgia Tech, drawing comparisons to NBA players such as Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis. As a tall, ball handling guard, the Lakers hope Crittenton can help solve the problems at the point that plagued them last season. At Georgia Tech Crittenton led the team in points and assists averaging over 14 points and almost 6 assists per game.

In the second round of the draft, with picks 40 and 48, the Lakers selected two international players: Sun Yue and Marc Gasol. Hailing from Spain , Marc Gasol enters the NBA in the wake of his famed brother Pau Gasol, of the Memphis Grizzlies. The twenty two year old Marc Gasol is a 7'1? 280lb center who is said to have good footwork and a soft touch. Sun Yue has been called the ?Chinese Magic Johnson? as a 6'9? point guard with a pass-first mentality that could develop into a valuable NBA commodity for the Lakers.

In a fantastic display of heart and determination Lamar Odom battled through multiple injuries as he finished out the 06-07 season. Having undergone off season surgery, both Odom and Kwame Brown are expected to return for the start of training camp fully recovered and ready to contribute. Lakers veteran Luke Walton will continue to act as a much needed facilitator and master of the triangle offense, resigning with the Lakers on a six year deal reportedly worth 30 million.

Lakers project, Andrew Bynum, having shown flashes of brilliance in his second year, will continue to train with Kareem Abdul Jabbar and attempt to establish himself as a dominant young big man in the Western Conference. The focal point of many trade discussions, Bynum is a sought after young center who has shown promise and skill while playing for the Lakers. Entering his third year, the Lakers hope Bynum can provide them with a significant low post presence to complement Bryant and Odom.

With no veteran point guard presence, the Lakers will be utilizing newly drafted Javaris Crittenton coupled with former UCLA guard, Jordan Farmar. Farmar, entering his sophomore year, has averaged about 4 points and 2 assists for the Lakers. Praised by Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson, Farmar will attempt to fill the point guard position with his developed court vision and poised game play.

The Lakers off season woes have left many fans and players hoping for another big name arrival in Los Angeles . Despite the trade drama and the Lakers sub par season record; many feel that a healthy supporting cast comprised of Odom and Walton is enough to help the Lakers make some noise in the post season. In the 2006-2007 season both Odom and Walton were plagued by injuries leaving their true potential a mystery. Prior to the teams injuries the Lakers got off to a 26-13 start, leading many to believe the teams existing roster is more than capable of making a playoff run.

Heading into the 2008 season, the Lakers are looking to strengthen their core around Kobe Bryant, while simultaneously adding some young eager talent in Javaris Crittenton. Operating under Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson the Lakers will utilize the triangle in an attempt to get back on top as one of the most successful professional ball clubs in the NBA. The Lakers tumultuous off season could give way to a reenergized supporting cast, hopefully providing the NBA's premier scorer with some much needed help.

Ticket sales for the los angeles lakers should bring each game to a sellout even without kobe there. It would be wise to buy your lakers tickets early in the season as the lakers are sure to make the playoffs once again.

The Los Angeles Lakers are a dominating force on the NBA scene once again this season, and the team's incredible depth has skyrocketed their worth, taking their “Bench Mob” with them. Speculation has arisen in Lakerland recently concerning the future of Lamar Odom, and it will be more than interesting to follow the Lakers' newest sixth man throughout the course of this season. Odom's outburst during the start of the preseason was nullified recently when the power forward publicly accepted his position as part of the team's talented reserve unit, and he made up for the recent wrongdoing by claiming, “That was my alter-ego talking. That's Odom, not Lamar. Seriously, I'm being dead serious. Lamar's a good locker room dude. I don't want to be detrimental to the team, especially when it's a championship-caliber team.”

This statement was good news for all Lakers fanatics, as fears of Odom demanding a trade or lashing out against his team evaporated with the sighs of relief following the forward's acceptance speech to the bench. Overall, Lamar Odom is not one to complain, and he's taking his newfound role as the team's sixth man to a higher degree, playing it up as much as he can. While Odom is one of the top players in the league when he's hot, it's his streakiness that is a problem for him, and Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson is trying to ease the hit-or-miss tendencies by placing him on the team's reserve, where he is finding a new role in sparking the fire behind bench production. Like other key players to sit the bench to spark the second unit (San Antonio with Manu Ginobli, Utah with Andrei Kirilenko and Dallas with Jason Terry), the Lakers have seen better play in their reserve unit lately, and especially in Odom, who can dominate opposing teams' second-string power forwards.

Odom got knocked out of a starting position for the Lakers this season when Andrew Bynum returned to the court after recovering from an injury, and initially the forward was furious with coach Phil Jackson for bumping him down, griping the most about the fact that he's in a contract year and needs to perform well this season to continue making the big bucks. Rumors of a Lamar Odom trade have been lingering ever since this development, but so far the forward continues to contribute to the Lakers' reserve, helping make Los Angeles' bench the second-highest-scoring reserve group in the entire NBA with an average of 37.2 points per game (Minnesota is first with 38.9). Odom's sixth man status could be hurting his career, however, as his numbers are starting to go downhill. Last season, the 6'10” forward averaged 14.2 points per game, 10.6 rebounds per game and 3.5 assists per game, compared with this November's averages of 9.5 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game.

When push comes to shove, the looming question is still whether or not Odom will stay or go. It's yet up in the air as nothing is settled permanently, but the one thing that's for sure is that this season marks the very first one that Lamar Odom is not a starter, from his grade school days though his nine years in the NBA. Anyone with Los Angeles Lakers tickets has seen Odom rock the Staples Center for the last four years, but the tides could be changing for him. The former Miami player has always been at the top of the pack, playing one season at Rhode Island where he was named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press, First Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in his only collegiate season before being drafted to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the NBA Draft in 1999. Odom played with the Miami Heat until he was picked up by the Lakers in a 2004 trade along with Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a future first round pick for Shaquille O'Neal. Odom has been playing in Lakerland ever since, helping most recently to lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals in 2008. If you haven't yet caught Lamar Odom hooping it up for Los Angeles, get game tickets from http://www.stubhub.com/los-angeles-lakers-tickets before a possible trade occurs.

Article Source : How Did Basketball Start

About Author

Both Chris Cabrea & Jenna Jay are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Chris Cabrea has sinced written about articles on various topics from About Branding, Football and Keyboard Synthesizer. Rich Stephenson does SEO for a ticket broker for http://www.barrystickets.com Barry's Tickets the leader in los angeles lakers tickets. As well as tickets for all sports, concerts and theater tickets nationwde.. Chris Cabrea's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.

Jenna Jay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Entertainment Guide, Keyboard Synthesizer and Entertainment Guide. This article is sponsored by StubHub.com and was written by Jenna Jay. is a leader in the business of selling. Jenna Jay's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.