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:

If you don't have a man crush on Hornets guard Chris Paul, the problem is you. Perhaps you're too partisan to recognize how good he is, or don't want to because his talent drives New Orleans and therefore threatens the Lakers. Or maybe you're a woman, making it by definition impossible to have a man crush. I can live with that.

The point? Paul is immensely talented, getting better, and is the reason the Hornets are a contender in the Western Conference this season, just as they were last.  The biggest reason for Paul's '07-'08 leap was juiced offensive and shooting numbers that made it even more difficult to defend his passing. Add to that a very solid supporting cast, all well-suited to take advantage of Paul's distribution, and you're left with a dandy formula for success. David West, who made his first All-Star Game last season, averaged 20.6 points a night and is an outstanding midrange shooter. If NASA got together to build a robot specifically designed to throw down endless Paul alley-oops, it would look like Tyson Chandler. Peja Stojakovic, who doesn't exactly need help to knock down threes, gets more free looks than a Peeping Tom because defenses can't help but collapse on Paul.   

Toss in Mo Peterson, a solid secondary scorer and outside shooter, and the addition of James Posey, who gives the Hornets not only another offensive producer but a noted defensive player and heaps of playoff experience, and things look even rosier in the Big Easy.

(Click below for more on NOH, with some insight from Hornets 24/7...)

Phoenix Suns (55-27, 6th Western conference, 2nd Pacific)

Key additions: Matt Barnes, Goran Gragic, Robin Lopez
Key losses: Gordan Giricek ... um, Eric Piatkowski count?

Like blues icon Robert Johnson, Bone Thugs N Harmony, and thespian Britney Spears, the Phoenix Suns are all about the crossroads this season. New Coach Terry Porter is installing a more traditional system and abandoning the franchise-reinvigorating "seven seconds or less" style of Mike D'Antoni (now in New York, where he truly may learn the meaning of "fun" -- as in "no" -- and "gun" -- as in "one will be jammed in his mouth by March"). Gone are the days of small ball, three balls bombed 24/7 and Shawn Marion resenting Amare Stoudemire.  Now it's about establishing a defensive identity, making the most out of a roster with a sizable mix of unproven youngsters and injury-prone vets (the elephant in the room -- literally and metaphorically -- among the latter contingent being Shaquille O'Neal, acquired last season in a blockbuster deal that paid few dividends) and taking one last shot at the brass ring before the whole thing likely needs to get blown up.

Houston Rockets: 55-27 (3rd in the Southwest Division, 5th in the Western Conference)

Key Additions: Ron Ron, Brent Barry, Von Wafer (woot!), Joey Dorsey, DJ Strawberry
Key Losses: Bobby Jackson, Steve Novak, Dikembe Mutombo

How good were the Rockets defensively last season?  You can make a very compelling argument that the primary benefit to adding noted defensive stopper (and crazy person) Ron Artest to this year's squad will come on the offensive side, as a third scorer to compliment Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.  The Rockets were the W.C.'s best team in terms of opponents field goal percentage, rebound differential, and finished atop the league in points allowed per shot.  In short, finding any breathing room against the Rockets last season was a colossal pain in the ass. 

Know thy enemy: San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs: 50-32 (56-26, 3rd Western Conference, 2nd Southwest Division)

Key Additions: Roger Mason Jr., George Hill
Key Losses:  Brent Barry, Robert Horry

"Don't trust anyone over 30"
                                         - some hippie                                                                         

While the offended may counter with a point along the lines of life beginning at 40, when it comes to professional round ballers, it's generally agreed that the further an NBA player travels across the "30 years of living" threshold, the more worries there are about his athletic prowess.  Which brings us to the San Antonio Spurs. 

Any team that made it to last year's Western Conference Finals can't be poo-pooed, particularly one with as many smart, "been there, done that" and jewelry rocking dudes as the Spurs.  But I also couldn't help but notice how long in the tooth this crew looked at times.  Yes, that "step lost" can be offset by vet savvy,  Yes, an argument can be made that Greg Popovich is the best coach.  Yes, a trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli- once he's back in a projected mid-December return- is deadly at the top of its game.  But just the same, the role players surrounding them are getting up there and I'm wondering if this team will collectively hit a wall similar to what happens when Luke Walton is playing at 50-75% health: Any "high basketball I.Q." (for lack of a better and less beaten-to-death cliche') gets canceled out by a body that can't make the most of it. 

Denver Nuggets: 50-32 (2nd in the Northwest Division, 8th in the Western Conference)

Key Additions: Chris Andersen, Renaldo Balkman, Dahntay Jones
Key Losses: Marcus Camby, Eduardo Najera, Yakhouba Diawara

There is an expression used for many good teams across sports, that they are greater than the sum of their parts.  It applies both to scrappy squads that achieve beyond what seems possible on paper before enshrinement in Disney films, and to talented groups that elevate to elite levels. 

Then there are the Denver Nuggets. 

Yes, the team won 50 games last season in a hyper-competitive Western Conference, but overall was a dysfunctional team worse than the sum of its parts.  Not all that surprising, given a core built around Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, two outstanding players and competitors with styles that don't complement each other in the slightest, supplemented by J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin and a coach in George Karl seemingly uninterested in putting things together in a cohesive way.  While the overall numbers might say otherwise, the Nuggets weren't a good defensive team when it mattered. They regressed down the stretch on their end of the floor, and, just as disorganized play offensively often made it tough to get a key bucket, lack of discipline defensively meant the Nuggets struggled to get stops in tight spots. 

And when the playoffs rolled around, they crumbled like perfectly cooked bacon. 

This year, the Nuggets lost two of their better defenders in Camby and Najera, and will need Martin and Nene to stay healthy (good luck with that) and step up big time if Denver is to avoid the lottery.  I don't see it happening.  They'll be dangerous in an "any given night" sort of way, but aren't close to contenders. 

For more on the Denver, I asked for some feedback from Jeremy at the Nuggets blog Pickaxe and Roll, who was nice enough to respond in some detail.  I can't say I agree with everything he writes, but as they say, THAT'S WHY THEY PLAY THE GAMES!

1) While John Hollinger might disagree, the Nuggets weren't a good defensive team last season, and then sold off Marcus Camby for... nothing.  Nene and K-Mart are back (for now), and will help, but how much improvement do you think they can make on that end?  How much better do they need to get?

Jeremy, Pickaxe and Roll: Nuggets fans who are into some of the "advanced" statistics such as defensive efficiency had quite a riddle on their hands last season. On one hand they were a top five team in defensive efficiency for the first half of the season.  On the other hand we were witnesses to a defense that practiced horrible principles and gave up a plethora of easy buckets game after game.

(Note: I realize these are supposed to go in reverse order of finish from last season, meaning Denver is technically next, but I'm waiting on some feedback from a Nuggets blogger and this one is good to go.  So we're going...)

Dallas Mavericks: 51-31 (fourth in the Southwest Division, seventh in the Western Conference)

Key additions: DeSagana Diop (re-signed after being traded away last year), Gerald Green
Key losses: Juwan Howard, Ty Lue, Malik Allen

Last season was not a happy one for the Mark Cuban circus down in big D. Their 51 wins represented the smallest total for the franchise since the 1999-2000 campaign, and 16 fewer than the year before.  The Mavs were then waxed by New Orleans, four games to one, in the opening round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, tensions built up among Avery Johnson and, well, just about everyone, from Cuban to the guys in the locker room, and Cuban toward the roster with which he started the season. In mid-February, with the Mavs sitting at 35-18, he dropped the plunger and blew the thing up, sending Devin Harris and a good chunk of the team's future to New Jersey for Jason Kidd. 

Fair to say it didn't work in the manner Cuban intended.  The Mavs were 16-14 after the trade, and seemed to struggle to find a rhythm with their new PG.  A full training camp in Dallas along with a boost from new Coach Rick Carlisle should help matters, but the bottom line is that Dallas is getting old, and pretty quick.  But that's just my impression.  To get a better handle on the Mavericks, I hit up our blogger inaArms Tim MacMahon from the Dallas Morning News, host of the Mavs Blog (and fellow ban-ee during Cuban's anti-blogger days) with a few Q's:

1) Rick Carlisle for Avery Johnson: Change in coaching personnel, but is it a big change in style?  How do you think Carlisle's presence will change the way the Mavs operate?

We continue to preview the Western Conference, in reverse order of last year's standings...

Golden State Warriors (48-34, ninth in the Western Conference, third in the Pacific Division)

Key additions: Corey Maggette, Ronny Turiaf, Anthony Randolph
Key losses: Baron Davis, Mikael Pietrus, Matt Barnes

I don't own a gaming system (making it silly to have a copy of NBA Live) but if I did, when I played it would always be as the Golden State Warriors.  When they come before me on the magic picture box, I will always stop to watch the Golden State Warriors.  Bottom line, this is an endlessly entertaining, high-octane bunch that is never, ever boring.  It's like watching any of the Bourne movies. Things may not always make sense and the parts might not fit together perfectly, but they sure are a fun way to kill a couple hours. 

Unfortunately, games aren't won on entertainment value alone.  Therein lies the rub for Golden State. 

BK kicked things off by taking you through last season's (and potentially this season's) bottom feeders.  Now it's time to move up the ladder's rung a bit and check out three more teams that missed the playoffs but at least came closer. Will any member of the trio improve their outside-looking-in viewpoint?  In my opinion, yes, but only one. And for those looking to swell with local hoops pride, my apologies. Along those lines...

Los Angeles Clippers (23-59, 12th Western Conference, fifth Pacific)

Key additions: Wow, where to start?  Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, Ricky Davis, Eric Gordon, Jason Hart, DeAndre Jordan, Brian Skinner, Steve Novak
Key Ssbtractions: Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Quinton Ross, Brevin Knight, Josh Powell, Dan Dickau (technically speaking, as he played a lot), Smush Parker (I slay me!)

You know it's been a busy Clippers off-season when they managed to both bring in and announce the retirement of Jason Williams. Personally, I think White Chocolate was a bullet dodged, but the odd turn of events involving the winningest Clipper ever underscore how frantically the Clippers worked to off-set defections expected (Corey Maggette) and head spinning (Elton Brand).  he red, white and blue are offering fans a complete overhaul of a squad that limped (literally and figuratively) to an uninspiring 2008 finish. But will they be better? 

That, as they say, would be the $64,000 Question.

(In our yearly peek at the rest of the Western Conference, we'll preview each team in reverse order of finish from last season.)

The Western Conference is a brutal place, cold and unforgiving, where quality teams must scratch and claw and gauge each others eyes out like George "The Animal" Steele (left) simply to find a spot in the postseason.  But while most of the competition is sinew and gristle, there is a soft, chewy, delicious underbelly on this side of the Mississippi, best represented by three teams that managed to win a combined 64 games in the 2007-08 campaign: The Seattle SuperSonics Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves.

There have been geographical and cosmetic changes, but will anything help these weak sisters win some games? 

Oklahoma City Thunder (20-62, 15th in the conference, fifth in the Northwest Division)

Key additions: Desmond Mason, Joe Smith, Russell Westbrook
Key subtractions: Luke Ridnour, Francisco Elson, Donyell Marshall

First things first: Thunder = Worst. Team. Name. Ever. I'm already dreading the weather-related headlines when they play Miami.

Moving on...

More by way of previews, this time via the folks at Pickaxe and Roll, a top notch Nuggets blog with a top notch name.  As part of a "blog swap" between PA'n'R and SportsHubLA, we discussed the idea of "Three ways to beat, and lose to, the _______."  Here is the report on Denver.  The quick and dirty summary of the larger piece, plus some additional thoughts, in the link follows below: 

There's just not a lot of free time on the first day of the tournament, so here are some quick thoughts on tonight's game:

• The Jazz can light up the scoreboard, coming in as the fifth highest scoring team in the NBA at 106.3 ppg (right behind the Lakers at 107.9).  That means the same sort of effort the Lakers put forth against Dallas in the first half on Tuesday will be required here to keep them in it.  The Lakers were quick to close, decisive on switches, and rotated well early against Dallas, before things went downhill over the final 18 minutes or so.  Not to be a Negative Nelly, but Utah, with their endless back screens and pick and rolls, plus a solid transition game, are equipped to exploit just about everything the Lakers don't do well. 
• Those 106.3 ppg for the Jazz don't come from the three point shot.  Despite the addition of Kyle Korver, who has been very effective for them, Utah only attempts 12.5 treys a night.  With their excellent ball and player movement, plus burly play from Carlos Boozer inside, they generate a lot of looks close to the hoop.  That helps explain their 49.7 FG%, a scant .1 behind the Suns for the league lead.
• With a win, the Lakers take the season series 3-1, something that could come in handy down the line. 
• Ronnie Brewer on defending Kobe (via the Jazz Blog at the Salt Lake Tribune): "You've got to get to him early, make him take tough shots," Brewer said. "I was watching when they played the Rockets [on Sunday], when [Shane] Battier was being real physical with him -- getting a hand in his face on every shot. That's what you try to do."
  
  Brewer also wants to "try and deny him the ball -- make other guys beat you because he is such an outstanding player."

Yikes!  Second half is about to begin... I need the Trojans to make a run.  Can't lose a Sweet 16 team on day one.

BK

It's worth noting that for an NBA team in need of a recalibration of its offensive attack, the Rockets aren't exactly the ideal opponent.  As this really cool link (via Forum Blue and Gold) shows, Houston is rock solid defensively, and can present serious problems to even the best of teams.  They're a model just about every team in the league- certainly including the Lakers- can emulate, in terms of rotations, help, and precision movement on that side of the floor.   Dallas is a decent defensive squad, but they're not the Rockets (especially the version we're seeing now).  Hopefully, that means the work they put in Monday in practice pays off in a few hours.   

That said, Dallas has won five in a row (against five Eastern Conference teams), and despite myriad of issues on the road are 29-4 at American Airlines Center.  Hardly a freebie.

Some thoughts on the game:

Part II of the most highly anticipated NBA analysis in the history of NBA analysis!

Or more accurately, the 25th most anticipated NBA analysis to get posted this weekend from a computer in the Los Angeles area.  Assuming a few competing writers experience trouble with their wireless, of course. 

At any rate, you've already seen my thoughts on the squads that pose either little or a moderate threat to the Lakers.  Now we'll see how the other half lives, the half that I picture starring down at the Lakers, unless the former falter or the purple and gold bring their A-Game on a regular basis.  Am I pegging these teams correctly?  Take a look and tell me.

-AK

How do you know the Laker season is underway?  Besides watching last night's home opener, the barrage of KCAL ads and your general ability to read a calendar, since the games start on more or less the same date each year? 

Because we're busting out the ol' "Know thy enemy," that's why!

It's time to analyze, deconstruct and generally pick apart the Western Conference that houses Laker enemies.  All 14 teams.  All angles and aspects explored.  I've divvied up the contenders (and pretenders) into four categories, two of which will be posted ri ... gh ... t ...

Now.

Yes, we're back to the old title.  No more playing games with superstitions or curses.  We're not going to cower in the corner, afraid of the unknown.  That said, I dipped my fingertips in a sacred oil of four leaf clover before I started typing.  Moving on....

When you've lost ten of thirteen as the Lakers have, the breaks never seem to go your way.  Take tonight's game in Philadelphia.  Six weeks ago, this would have been considered an easy win, because the Sixers basically sucked.  They were the team the Lakers beat around at Staples on New Year's Eve, dropping Philly's record to 8-22.  But since the book ended on '06 (Alert!  Sobering statistic ahead!), things have been a little different for both teams.  The Lakers have gone 13-18, while the Sixers are 15-16.  So the one-time patsies aren't anymore.  Even worse for L.A., Philly has won five straight, including a victory over the Suns.  That means only one thing is certain about tonight's game- Kobe will get booed.

For reasons that confirm the notion that computers can be trusted only so much, Minnesota Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale was declared by Forbes.com as the best general manager in any of the big four sports. I would imagine Wolves fans, who have watched a 58-game-winning-Western-Conference-finals-making '03-'04 team dissolve into one that will likely miss the playoffs for a third straight year, might disagree.  (Just for reference, Philly's Billy King was ranked the third best GM in sports, so take it all with a grain of salt.)   And given the current makeup of the roster, a quick fix isn't likely.  It's not that Minnesota is horrible.  They're not.  Instead, they're mediocre, and because of some questionable financial decisions by the best GM in sports (Marko Jaric, for example), aren't set up to engineer a quick fix.  That's probably worse.  Especially when satisfying your star is a top priority.

The Lakers opened the season with a Kobe-less victory over the Suns, a win that sparked the optimism of purple and gold fans everywhere.  Aside from exacting revenge on the squad that blew them out in an ugly Game 7 of last season's playoffs,the loss kicked off a 3-6 start for Phoenix, prompting some folks to believe the defending back-to-back Pacific division champs were ready to fall apart.  Subsequent 15 and 17 game winning streaks made it clear that rumors of their demise were a touch premature.  If anything, the Suns look better than last season, although the health of (Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw) has been a concern in recent days, especially for a team that runs (literally and figuratively) with a short rotation of seven to eight guys.

We'll keep switching up the "Know Thy Enemy" moniker if change continues bringing about Laker wins. Or we run out of titles, admit defeat and go back to the original name, whichever comes first.

At any rate, tonight's dudes come from Utah, and like the music they're named for, are currently be-bopping along like a Miles-Trane-Mingus-Bud-Blakey quintet. With only one February loss to their names (against Portland, proving those cats can throw everyone's mojo sideways), the squad few media types (including either K Brother) pegged for '06-'07 success have the Northwest division locked up like Bobby Brown. And while the Lakers remain snakebit when it comes to injury, they can't catch a break when it comes to an opponent's health. There's a good shot Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko will be back in uni, putting the Jazz at full strength for tonight's rumble.

The Lakers will head into Oakland today having unshackled, at least for a day, the vets at the end of the bench. And not surprising Shammond Williams is happy to get a shot. And he could play more today, since Smush Parker turned an ankle in practice Saturday and may be limited this afternoon.  They're still without a fully healthy L.O., Kwame Brown and Luke, Walton--each of which hurts in its own special way. 

By now, we all know why the J-Kidd deal folded. Mitch Kupchak kept his big ace and waited to play another hand (poker metaphors are big this morning). The Warriors are certainly happy they won't see him today. As long as we're talking about player-to-city scenarios that didn't happen, how about this one? For former Laker Kareem Rush, he'd just like to play anywhere in the lower 48 (and Toronto, too). Rush probably wouldn't help the Lakers rise in Mark Heisler's Sunday Rankings, but at least he'd have been stateside for an interesting weekend in Vegas. 

It has been pointed out that since we resurrected the "Know Thy Enemy" feature, the Lakers have gone into the tank.  So rather than continue to drive the Lakers towards the lottery, we'll try messing with the name of the post. 

Unfortunately, what has been a depressing year for Celtics fans got far worse yesterday with the untimely passing of Dennis Johnson at 52, of an apparent heart attack.  Outside of Boston, there may not be a city where the impact of the defensive specialist was felt more than L.A., given his role in the Lakers/Celtics rivalry of the 80s.  Sad news, for sure.

They may not provide the same slam dunk fodder to lazy media types like myself, but since Portland passed the mantle of "Team Most Likely to Star in an America's Most Wanted Marathon" to the Cincinnati Bengals, things have improved considerably in BlazerVille.  Through 55 games, Portland has already won more games (23) than they did all of last season (21).  Sure, they're not good yet, but it's fair to say they're no longer an unholy abomination of a hoops team (again, on and off the floor) that besmirches the otherwise good name of the Pacific Northwest.   Zach Randolph has been a monster at 24.0/10.2, Brandon Roy is likely to win Rookie of the Year, and prompt a lot of bad Roy ROY puns.  LaMarcus Aldridge has shown signs, and Jarret Jack has done a serviceable job replacing Sebastian Telfair.  So when the Lakers kick off the post-ASB season tonight at Staples, Portland provides perhaps the ultimate opponent- talented enough to beat about any team on any given night, strong enough inside to provide matchup issues, and bad enough that you'd think the Lakers should win easily... which they never do. 

The odds of John Amaechi signing a ten day contract with Cleveland before tonight's game seem relatively low, meaning it should be easy enough to shift the previous thread's discussion entirely back to the Purple and Gold (although admittedly, it was interesting). 

Tonight, the Lakers square off against the LeBrons, who pulled out a 99-90 W against the Lakers just four days ago.  ABC billed the proceedings as "Kobe v. LBJ," but the box score revealed "the other Sasha" as the afternoon's hero.  Pavlovic, who's been coming on strong these days after a slow start (both to the season and his career), put the game on ice with 13 points in the fourth quarter.  One suspects he won't garner "afterthought" status heading into tonight's showdown.

Recently, Knicks center Eddy Curry said if coach Isiah Thomas was fired, he'd ask for a trade.  This is sort of how things work around the Garden these days.  Yes, the Knicks have made progress this year, which is saying something considering they're currently 22-29.  So let's check the hands: On the one (coaching first), they are technically going the right direction with Thomas.  On the other hand, they're a colossal mess salary wise, and progress aside, still can't crack the top eight in a horrible conference.  Regarding Curry, their center is currently experiencing a career year and is clearly one of New York's best players.  On the other, he's still leakier than a colander defensively and at 6'11", 285 still doesn't average 10.0 rebounds per 48 minutes played.  Remember, this is a guy who when former coach Scott Skiles was asked how Curry could be better on the glass, he replied, "Jump."

So if you're a New Yorker, do you want Isiah gone knowing Curry, the current "cornerstone" of the franchise will, at least theoretically, be right behind him?  Do you cross your fingers and hope that everyone else on the roster, save rebounding machine David Lee, Channing Frye, Quentin Richardson (currently having a really nice year, injuries aside), and maybe (maybe) Jamal Crawford joins Curry in his pledge... and then fire Thomas (my vote).  It's a pickle, that's for sure! 

In news not related to Kobe/LeBron, Luke Walton is likely to be out until after the All Star break because of his bum right ankle.  Of course, he's going to see a specialist Monday, which, if recent trends hold, means he'll end up out another three months after the guy (Dr. Kenneth Jung) goes digging around in there.  On a more positive note, Vlad Rad says his hand is feeling better.  Unfortunately, "injury" would have been a nicer explanation for his last two games than "just playing like doo-doo."  Keep an eye as well on how P.J. uses a still-rusty Lamar in his second unit rotation.  Anything to keep the Lakers from mixing with the potential sevens and eights in the W.C.

Gilbert over Kobe?  Outrageous!  Either way, 24 says he's just fine.  Maybe it's because his locker room has more square footage than the Clippers'. 

Okay.  Now on to today's game in Cleveland, the final game of L.A.'s eight game, grueling odyssey through the midwest and east coast.  We all know where Flea stands on this one, and Kobe says he's not paying any attention to the Me vs. LeBron angle.  No worries, because the rest of the planet has that covered for him (toss in D-Wade, and you can really have a fun discussion- add Timmy D, and it's that much more fun).   

Time to revive an oldie but a goodie- the patented Lakers Blog scouting report!  A couple months back, tonight's visit to Toronto would have been slotted as an easy win... at least for teams that don't stink it up against garbage squads, as the Lakers have been known to do.  But in theory, crossing the border meant they'd have to declare a victory to customs agents on the way home.  Not so much anymore. 

San Antonio Spurs (63-19, 1st in the Western Conference)
Big Additions: Jackie Butler, Matt Bonner, Francisco Elson, Jacque Vaughn
Big Losses: Nazr Mohammed, Rasho Nesterovic, Nick Van Exel

If ever there was an NBA franchise with gravitas for the serious basketball fan, those types who diagram plays at home and speak reverently of purity and form, it's San Antonio. In a league that generally isn't, the Spurs are fundamentally sound in a way that seems so old school you half expect them to arrive on the court wearing satin unis, Chuck Taylors, and shorts that require belts. They play team defense more suffocating than the pillow Chief Bromden used to put a lobotomized McMurphy out of his misery in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." But they're far from stodgy. San Antonio was so far ahead of the international players curve it should be named for them, and guys like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, when teamed with The Big Fundamental in Tim Duncan, make them a fun team to watch, especially for hard core-hoop fans. Not so much to play, which is why they've remained a player in the Western Conference year in and year out for a while now. This season? Just one more of death, taxes, and the San Antonio Spurs.