Lakers' victories great, but sluggish starts not a key ingredient

It’s a season where a multitude of Lakers’ fans believe they can win at least 70 games or more, the Los Angeles Lakers are on pace to win those many games, with three more wins they’ll tie their 16-1 start of the 2001-02 season, but they can use a minor adjustments at the start of each contest.

It has been a remarkable season, well at least for the first month of the regular-season, they have a brand new trademark on defense, the bench mob provides intensity, while Kobe Bryant enhances the game, with his ability to lead a late-rally and pick up a save, meaning closing the game, similar to the latest one last night against the Dallas Mavericks.

Of course, a win is a win, but the Lakers can’t continue to get comfortable early and relaying on second-half rallies, the Lakers are great, obviously they’re the best team in the West, but if they look to keep their swagger, then they’ll need to play a full 48 minutes, not a full 24.

The Lakers latest hallmark has been, fall behind, increase intensity and win with ease, but on Christmas Day, when they host Boston, the Lakers can’t enter the game with that same attitude, they’ll have to form a new game plan, defense early, intensity for an entire 48 and win with ease.

As the late legendary Chick Hearn would say, “the game’s in the refrigerator. The doors closed, the light’s out, the eggs are cooling, the butter’s getting hard, and the jell-O’s jiggling,” wasn’t their mystique when they needed a second-half rally to ease to a 114-107 victory, after grinding their way back into the game.

Aside from the first-half woes, the Lakers are 13-1 on the season, that’s great, but getting more consistency early as soon as they tip off, will bring out the new Lakers, they’ll really be difficult to beat as their intensity level will step into gear early, by taking their opponents out of their game, then they won’t have to worry about digging themselves a hole and grinding their way back into a game which could possibly turn into a loss.

Soon, if the Lakers continue to start off sluggish, they’ll possibly start to lose more games than they should, while playing against a mediocre team who the Lakers might take lightly on a night when they least expect their opponent to come away with a victory.

Beyond any doubt, they needed Kobe Bryant to boost his intensity level, in which he posted a season-high 35 points, after a poor first-half. The Lakers hustle-minded and defensive-minded forward, Trevor Ariza, finished with a season-high 15 points.

Bryant scored 23 points in the second-half. He finished 14-for-26 shooting after struggling to find his range. At least Bryant made it happen when it mattered. He found his touch at a good time, when their second loss of the season was on the line against the Mavs, a team which isn’t experts on defense or even on offense.

The Mavs led by 12 points midway through the third quarter and by 11 with less than four minutes left, but the Lakers turned on an impelling switch and elevated their game to a pinnacle.

Kobe nailed a 20-foot jumpshot. Then his sidekick Ariza made a deep jumper from above the key, following a three point jumper from the corner, just to give you a glimpse of their dramatic turn of events.

Game over. Lakers win. Good, now they’re a step closer to gaining a championship trademark stamp.

But, not always the result, if they continue their late surges.

Lakers executes threat within West, rivalry between Suns, a zilch

For now, the Los Angeles Lakers are the most dominated team in the West. A reunion was held in the desert on Thursday night, which turned into uproar for the Phoenix Suns.

In the West, no team is a threat to the Lakers, except themselves. Utah is bothered by injuries, Portland is still searching for their coherence, New Orleans hasn’t being efficient, San Antonio, well they’re old, Houston isn’t playing as well as we thought they were after adding defensive specialist Ron Artest, Dallas and Denver, well they don’t play any defense.

Nonetheless, the Lakers are favors to repeat in the West, where they might have a chance to redeem themselves after they were crushed by Boston in the finals last season.

For the first time this season, the Lakers and Suns clashed before the Lakers smashed and sailed to a 105-92 victory, improving their record to 8-0 against West teams with a win at Dallas and at New Orleans.

Perhaps there’s only one team or even two teams that can beat the Lakers, both of them being East teams, failing to find a rational answer for Allen Iverson and Detroit last week. Yes, the Pistons can beat the Lakers.

But, we’re still uncertain on if the Lakers can beat Boston, tune in on Christmas Day to find out.

For now, we know the Suns aren’t a threat to the Lakers, certainly they probably didn’t really notice that Shaq was in the middle.

It was a reunion to where Shaq and Phil Jackson forgave, giving each other sweat bear hugs two hours before game time. Still, the rivalry isn’t the same when ever you see Shaq hug Jackson or Kobe giving hand slaps to Shaq.

Lakers-Suns rivalry is a zilch, without Mike D’Antoni’s fast-pace system and Jackson shouting from the sidelines at D’Antoni, there’s no rivalry.

The Suns are a step slower on offense as their fast-running offense took a hitchhike to New York, but the Lakers made the Suns look disintegrated, holding them below nine points of their season average, a team known to reach the 100 point plateau.

On greater imports, for the Lakers, Vladimir Radmanovic had a surprise party, scoring 15 points after burying all five three-point attempts. Sometimes, it takes one game to break out of a slump maybe having a big game, might have ended his early season letdowns.

Entering the game averaging 6.1 points and shooting 34 percent, an absurd performance that led to questions, such as possibly trading the forward elsewhere or accompanying Lamar Odom in his place, but Radmanovic don’t want to surrender his starting job, his performance from behind the arch made a difference.

But their star, Kobe Bryant never found his touch, missing 15-of-23 shots, still managing to score 24 points, winning the match over Shaq, who scored 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, in what wasn’t a rivalry, just West Coast domination.

Usually, a tight game down the strength, turned into a compelling blowout against the Suns, a team that isn’t nearly the same without a fast-pace game plan, the Lakers pulled away from a 50-44 halftime advantage for an 80-67 advantage and never gazed back.

Without a fast-running game, Steve Nash isn’t the same, had trouble finding rhythm with the Lakers holding him scoreless until a layup midway in the third quarter. He finished with just eight points and like always 10 assist.

With aging Shaq in their lineup, hurts their ability to install a fast-running game and Coach Terry Porter doesn’t emphasize a full-court offense, seemingly more comfortable running a half-court offense.

There has been speculations that Shaq would like to return to the Lakers when he becomes a free-agent in 2010, but the Lakers look as if they’re moving on with their young talent, such as Andrew Bynum, the Lakers believe in him after giving him a four-year, $58 million contract extension.

Bynum certainly is the new big-man, many believe Shaq is washed up, from watching the Suns play the Lakers provided a hint, his days with the Lakers are bygone.

The Lakers proved they’re the best of the West, but they still have to prove they can overpower the East.

However, Shaq, Jackson and Kobe all seem to have absolved their issues, and the Suns aren’t a threat to the Lakers, which means there’s no rivalry in the West, but there’s a dominate Lakers team, seeking to win a championship.

Still, the Suns have a lot of work to complete, while the Lakers have a little work to complete. That’s winning a championship with their legitimate squad.

Now, the sun no longer shines in the desert. But now, the stars gleams in Los Angeles.

O'Neal's Laker days' bygone, aging body, infamous demeanor diminishes return

Everyone knows the Los Angeles Lakers are championship caliber, and so does Shaquille O’Neal.

With the ability to retrospect, he has realized that he’s astray, now realizing that he might not ever play on another team that’s contending for a championship, unless he returns to the Lakers.

Making a return to the Lakers might be Shaq’s best alternative, only if they’re willing to take him back, but from my understanding the Lakers have omitted Shaq. For obvious reasons everyone is discussing Shaq’s possible return for two reasons. One, the Lakers faces the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. Two, Shaq told the Sacramento Bee that he’s reconsiders on possibly playing for the Lakers once again when he becomes a free-agent in 2010.

Apparently, Shaq hasn’t rejected the Lakers, but they’ve rejected him. Even, the general public in Los Angeles has rejected the Big Diesel on a possible return. The Lakers and Suns clash in the desert tonight, which should be interesting.

Usually, when Shaq and Kobe Bryant encounters one another, its Shaq versus Kobe. Now there’s a different ring to the Lakers, whenever Shaq steps on the same court with them. That ring is a new big man amid. It’s now Shaq versus Andrew Bynum.

Reportedly, Shaq is interested in remarrying the Lakers, after his ugly divorce with them in 2004. He arrived to the desert back in February, where he seemed optimistic on bringing a championship to Phoenix.

Simply, Shaq can’t win without Kobe. During the summer, he ripped Kobe in his rap session at a nightclub in New York when he should have being rapping on how he couldn’t do with Kobe. Now Shaq has added more havoc to the Lakers-Suns rivalry, which dates back before his arrival.

O’Neal acknowledged that he never had issues with Bryant, but blames Phil Jackson for all the conflict surrounding the dynastic Lakers earlier in the decade.

No, the problem clearly was Shaq, who had attitudes and cockiness personalities, which destroyed a dynasty. He wanted to be the top star, asking for the ball more often, but didn’t receive it much, causing him to go berserk. His demeanor led to more problems when he started ripping Kobe and blaming problems on him as well as the rest of the organization.

The Lakers organization went on a warpath and bitterness between Kobe and Shaq started to escalate into further problems. Lakers owner Jerry Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak decided to trade the 7-foot giant to Miami, where he won his fourth championship, for those whose keeping count of championships won.

Nonetheless, Kobe only has three, but could possibly win his fourth this season with a much improved supporting cast.

Evidently, the Lakers decided to move forward into the future with second year star Andrew Bynum, who seems fully healthy. He’s their next big elite center and has emerged quickly into a legitimate competitor.

On the other hand, Shaq has lost creditably to most of the public in Los Angeles, after publicly ripping teammates. And they’re rebuilding with young talent, the Lakers have a bright futures with Bynum at center and Pau Gasol on the inside, can mature into a more dynamic force.

If the Lakers were to re-sign Shaq, it would've turned out to be the biggest mistake in history for them, and then Kupchak would really catch heat from critics. His presence will change the entire complexion on offense because of his inability to get up and down the court in a timely fashion, without becoming fatigue.

Certainly, Shaq is aging, while Bynum still have at least another 20 years left. But, Shaq has zero. He’s washed up, while Bynum is just getting incepted. He’s despised, while Bynum is beloved. And he recently signed a four-year, $58 million contract extension, while Shaq looks as if he’ll be swearing in at a station to become the next undercover policeman.

Shaq, big man, there’s no room as the Lakers seem to be just fine.

In other words, the Big Diesel has ran out of diesel fuel.

Ariza conveys kind of physical stamina, the Lakers require

Late in the third quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers showed up on defense after Trevor Ariza subbed for Kobe Bryant.

Ariza changed the complexion of the game, and transformed the Lakers into a tough fierce team, that was undiscovered until he entered. With his presence, they’re dissimilar, usually becoming very physical, which is what happened against the Dallas Mavericks.

Ariza’s physical style of play resulted in a come from behind victory for a final of 106-99. They salvaged a victory over the Mavs, a game they probably would’ve surrendered if Ariza didn’t have the type of performance he showed.

While on the floor, Ariza provides that in your face type action by delivering turnovers and creating a fastbreak highlight reel in transition. His ability to rebound, score on tip shots, dunk on his own rebound, agility to drive to the bucket and leaping ability hurt the Mavs late in the third until the final buzzard sounded.

With Ariza back at full strength, the Lakers have a great combination of height in the interior, which scares opposing players from driving inside. He’s the fortitude off the Lakers bench, entering the game and inspiring teammates.

The Lakers intensity level rose to the occasion, and their self-assurance even boosted up to the next level. His capacity to energize them late in the second half empowered them to outplay, outscore and outhustle.

At one point in the game, Ariza dived to the floor, grabbing possession of the ball and then singled for a time out after none of his teammates appeared to be available for an open pass. He made a tip shot midway through the second quarter. Then within the final three minutes, he gained possession on Kobe Bryant’s jumpball contest with Jerry Stackhouse.

They went ahead on Ariza’s dunk early in the fourth, after collecting an offensive rebound. And his emphatic block put the icing on the cake in the final minutes.

Meanwhile, Ariza appeared everywhere and practically defended nearly every player on the Mavs. It should’ve taught the Mavs a lesson that playing defense is the key to obtaining a victory.

Now, the Lakers are 6-0, for the first time since the 2001-02 seasons, courtesy of Ariza’s assistance, turning their sluggish first-half into an upgrade. When the Lakers last time went unbeaten this long, they won the championship.

However, Ariza is playing as if he’s championship hungry and has proving that the Lakers are championship bound. A year ago, they were criticized about the lack of intensity on defense, but Ariza has emerged into their superstar on defense.

If he remains healthy, the Lakers are going to be very difficult to defeat this season. He provides a spark off the bench and has solidifies his teammates, getting them involve by coming away with rebounds, turning boards into a fast pace game and turns block shots and steals into easy fastbreak points.

In the first-half, the Mavs scored a season-high 35 points, but the Lakers defense responded, holding them to 39 points scored in the second-half. Although, the Lakers went into the fourth quarter trailing for the first time this season, they went on a 30-9 scoring spurt that finalized the game for good.

Game over, the Lakers improved their record and still remains unbeaten.

Ariza’s stamina and savviest have turned the Lakers into a physical force. Now, we can say the Lakers can play defense as they ought.