When the basketball overlords convened inside their pebbled leather-and-ivory tower this offseason and emerged to declare the Lakers as clear favorites in the Western Conference, they did so with some of the following in mind: 

• That Kobe guy.
• Depth and balance.
• Length and scoring in the frontcourt.
• Sun Yue. 

Okay, maybe not that fourth one, but the rest of it certainly holds true.  For their part, the Lakers spent the preseason talking about an increased emphasis on defense, dotting all I's and crossing all T's on their end of the floor.  In Tuesday night's 96-76 season opening victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, everyone was right.  The Lakers had a typically solid game from the NBA's MVP, as Kobe Bryant scored 13 in the third and finished with 23 (along with 11 boards and 5 dimes just for window dressing) while spending most of the fourth quarter in sweats.  Depth and balance?  Try 11 from Trevor Ariza, eight from Vlad Radmanovic, nine from Jordan Farmar, and so on.  Length in the frontcourt?  Pau Gasol destroyed the Blazers early, going off for nine in the opening 12 minutes en route to 15 for the game. 

But devotees of the purple and gold will relish a defensive effort that held the Blazers to 53 points through three quarters.  The rotations were sharp, the closeouts fast, the pressure intense.  Portland had a terrible time getting to the rack, and were generally limited jumpers with a hand in the face.  Shots frequently came late in the clock or not at all, as the Lakers limited the Blazers to 29.2% shooting in the first, 33.3% in the second, and 34.8% in the third.  Chalk up some of that to disorganized play from the Blazers, but as Phil Jackson pointed out after the game, part of the reason Portland looked bad was because the Lakers facilitated the process. 

Click below for the breakdown.

I'm not saying the Lakers will go 82-0, but they're not going 82-0 if they don't win tonight, that's for sure! 

Starters: Blake, Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge, Oden.  Kobe, Fish, Vlad, Pau, Bynum.

Nice hand during the pregame for Jeffrey Osborne, who for the 25th year in a row sang the National Anthem for Lakers opening night.  Folks are definitely keyed up.  This place is about as loud as it gets for a non- playoff game. 

BK with the first quarter...

11:40- Vlad gets the season's first offensive board of the year, going in traffic to clean up a Pau miss on the right handed hook.  The ball ends up back in Pau's hands on the block, and he makes a nice move on Oden for the lil' hook and the foul.   He makes the freebie, and it's 3-0 Lakers. 

10:49- Aldridge hits a jumper- that's something Pau is going to have to look for- but Fish responds on the other end with a J of his own.  5-2 LAL. 

Stuff we learned before the game: 

• Sasha is good to go.  He went through a full practice yesterday and feels fully capable of doing whatever PJ asks of him tonight.  As long as the pain isn't sharp, Sasha says it's tolerable.  Incidentally, he's using a different sort of headband this year.  Similar to last season's model in that it's leather (or leather adjacent), but it's a little longer (he doubles it back over itself like a rubber band) and is, in the interests of team spirit, purple.
• We'll have more about this over the course of the week, but both Sasha and Trevor Ariza spoke about how everyone is going to have to share minutes, and that it could mean inconsistency in PT, especially early.  Everyone seems to understand that going in, which is important.  How it plays out, of course, is one of the season's big storylines. 
• PJ didn't flog Drew for his, um, birthday video, writing it off as a young man moving from his teens to adulthood.  Not that he seemed thrilled, but Jackson wasn't willing to make a deal out of it in the media.  Regarding on the court stuff, PJ is happy with Drew's progress.  Physically he's in good shape, and he's being decisive with the ball on the offensive end.  Defense is a work in progress (as it will be the entire year, with him and the team as a whole), as is offensive rebounding. 
• Jackson said he'll be watching Pau and Kobe closely for fatigue as they come off their Olympic summers.

Keep an eye on the Gasol/Aldridge matchup early on.  That, to me, is actually more interesting that Oden/Bynum, because it's more reflective of some of the different challenges the Lakers will see as teams try to pull Pau away from the basket defensively and make him run around a lot. 

BK

Fire it up!

Hey folks.  We'll be running the chat machine tonight at 5:15, ahead of the opening tip, so be there with any last minute questions and comments about the 2008-09 season.

And just in case you don't like reading our Western Conference previews...

We end our scouting series with a team perennially among the upper echelon squads (this year would be no exception), if not widely considered a true threat (this year would be no exception). I'm pretty certain we'll witness another season in which the Jazz get a prime spot along the glass for window shopping, but will bail out on any purchase upon realizing their wallet is a little light. But anyone who dismisses them is about as smart as a dude who moves to Salt Lake City strictly for the multicultural experience.  On any given night, they're good enough to beat -- even soundly -- whoever does emerge holding the chip. 

The inside-outside duo of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams (the only point guard in the league capable of siphoning any of Chris Paul's "numero uno" status) can hold their own with anyone in the league.  Sweet-shooting, 7-footer Mehmet Okur is a nightmare for most bigs to guard. The talented (if oft flaky) Andrei Kirilenko is doing his "Manu-Leandro-Lamar" thing off a deep Utah pine. Their complementary players -- most notably marksman Kyle Korver, underrated swing-man Ronnie Brewer, Matt "plays a lot like Ray Lewis" Harpring, glass eater Paul Millsap and the surprisingly compensated C.J. Miles -- all fill various holes nicely. The lineup may not generate the same "automatic scary" factor as the Lakers, Hornets or Rockets, but the Jazz aren't ones to be trifled with, and not just because they play the most physical brand of ball in the West.

To dig deeper into the Jazz, BK and I held podcast court with the Salt Lake Tribune's Ross Siler, a name many of you recognize as the former Lakers beat writer for the Daily News.  (Some of you may recognize the face, too... and then realize he's not Coby Karl.)  However you know Mr. Siler, the ex-Angelino is an always reliable source for inside info on the Jazz, and the NBA at large. 

Click below for the full audio.  High points of the podcast include:

Every 365 days or so, right around this time in late October, roundball enthusiasts start feeling a beautiful butterfly dance in their guts.  Why?  Because that's when their favorite hoops squad start hitting the hardwood after a summer vakay.  And for Lakers fans, the kickoff comes 24 hours ahead of the masses, with a Lakers-Blazers season opener (7:30 pm PT, TNT), a contest that should provide both entertainment and perhaps a sneak preview of a renewed rivalry in the works. 

After years spent looking like a roster that would fit in at Oz, the Blazers are now family friendly and saturated with young talent.  In particular, many a retina will be fixed on the back of seven footer Greg Oden, whose pro debut has been anticipated with a zeal that made The Dark Knight look like an indie flick.  Some feel The Bearded One will provide a nice litmus test for how "back" Andrew Bynum is from injury and whether he can pick up where he left off before last season's injury, in a peas and carrots relationship with Kobe Bryant that could bring to light the greatest of expectations.  And really, why wouldn't fans shoot the moon with their hopes and dreams?  Between 24, 17, the presence of Pau Gasol and a roster deep enough that Phil Jackson feels no immediate pressure to lock down a starting lineup or rotation, the Lakers are hungry and consider the O'Brien trophy the only suitable sustenance out there.  With any luck, it'll be prepared as a dish served cold.

At least none talked about publicly.  But judging by the lack of winks, cocky smiles and elbow nudges, I believe the sincerity of disinterest expressed in embarrassing Portland's Greg Oden during tomorrow's season opener, much less anyone offering a grand like Kevin Martin won for dunking on a rook being hyped as the game's next great defensive presence (although if you watch the video, K-Mart didn't so much dunk on Oden as next to him).  And even if money did change hands over a sweet throw down, Derek Fisher wouldn't see it as teammates paying to debunk "The legend of the Bearded One" as simply a continuation of a tradition where young 'uns pay their dues. 

"I think that's more about being a rookie than it is defensive reputation, " laughed Fish.  "In particular, rookies that get a lot of fanfare early, certain guys just get excited about welcoming them to the NBA."

A few days ago, AusTechSpur from Pounding the Rock provided us with some insight about the Spurs for the San Antonio portion of "Know Thy Enemy."  He also had a few Laker-centric questions rattling around his brain and tossed them our way.  Here's what we had to say on a variety of topics ranging from the importance of Andrew Bynum remaining healthy to the team's "soft" perception to the organization's blatant favoring of me over BK.  Take a gander, if you'd like.

AK

Just got word from El Segundo that Coby Karl has been waived.  It's not a huge surprise, and while it's obviously bad news for Karl, in many ways it's good news for Laker fans because it means the team is pretty confident in the condition of Sasha Vujacic's ankle.  In the end, Karl got caught in a numbers game.  The Lakers like keeping that 15th slot open for in-season transactions, and given their financial situation it's hard to justify paying luxury tax rates for a D-League player with some potential. 

Karl is a nice kid who works hard, and hopefully he'll be able to find his way back into the league.  Click below for the press release. 

BK