Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are looking great as usual. Lewis finally handled the ball a lot more than he usually has in the past, making some plays off the dribble. The major problem with the Sonics is that there seems to be no consistent third scorer. In the 2005 playoff run, either Antonio Daniels, Vladimir Radmonivic, Jerome James, or Danny Fortson, would step up and fill that role. The first three are all long gone while banged up Fortson is highly unlikely to get in the rotation at all.
Earl Watson filled in for Luke Ridnour at point guard last night. While Watson made a couple nice plays, Ridnour is by far the better man to run the offense.
Nick Collison was already a tough banger who could finish inside. Now that he showed off his improved shot range, he will definitely push Chris Wilcox as the starting power forward.
The Sonics best five might as well include Wilcox and Collison, because despite drafting a center first in each of the past three years, none are close to being a reliable starter. Robert Swift gets my vote as he finally showed some toughness hitting the boards last night. Johan Petro and Muhammad Sene are huge guys who will take up space and block some shots, but they get into foul trouble ridiculously easily and are still liabilities on offense.
Kobe Bryant sat out because he was afraid of Ray Allen burning him again. Oh, and something to do with a recover from knee surgery too.
Kurt Rambis filled in for Phil Jackson. This may hurt the youthful Lakers as Jackson's training camps are known to be essential in order to implement his triangle offense, not that Kobe is going to run it anyway.
I know Shaq is long gone, but it seems he left the bad free throw shooting here in Los Angeles (56 percent).
Laker fans, meet Vladimir Radmonivic. Sure, he will give you brilliant games every now and then, but last night he was 1-8 from the field. Considering he cannot do anything else but shoot, it will be interesting to see how Phil puts up with him.
Three Lakers who I (gasp) love: Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, and Ronny Turiaf.
Where was Lamar Odom? He should have taken over the game.
Andrew Bynum has got be on the floor a lot more. The Lakers are missing out on someone who could break a la Dwight Howard. If the Lakers want to get back to contending for a championship, Kobe needs an effective big, and Bynum fits the profile.
