Normally at a time like this, you'd say things like, "It's finally time for the speculation to end and the games to begin," or "After a summer of chatter, the games are here and it's time to put the words aside." Except we all know the chatter will continue, the speculation will, in fact, not die. Not anytime soon, at least. Whatever. It's tipoff time for the '07-08 season, and ready or not, here the Lakers come. Needless to say the vibe around the team has folks (players, fans, media) a little on edge (not quite in a DeNiro, Taxi Driver way, but on edge nonetheless). Unfortunately, the Lakers need to put everything aside quickly and get down to business, because five of their first six games are against playoff contenders -- Houston tonight, then Phoenix, Utah, New Orleans and San Antonio. Forgive me for not including Minnesota in that group.
No time to screw around.
Some news: Your starting lineup tonight will, of course, lack Lamar Odom. That means Luke Walton will start at small forward, Ronny Turiaf at the four, and Kwame Brown will be given the task of bodying up Yao from the opening bell. Oh, Kobe's fine, and will be in the lineup. Phil Jackson said before the game that he'll once again put Kobe out on the wing and let Derek Fisher push the pace, hopefully freeing Kobe up from some responsibility on the offensive end.
Plenty more on that, and more, in the audio below the jump.