A well run pick and roll is a great thing to watch, impossible to defend completely given the right personnel. That doesn't mean I want to see it all the time. But as Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times confirms and quantifies here, increasingly in today's NBA, it's a P and R world, the rest of us are just passengers.

The Lakers, who originated only 11% of their offensive plays last year through the set writes Abrams, are an exception. Fans and the game are better for it.

LA's offense demands players think and interpret, share the ball, display a varied skill set, and move in space. It thrives on players with basketball intellect who understand the relationship between their play and the four other guys on the floor. I appreciate the balance the triangle creates between a strong coaching hand necessary to implement, teach, and perfect the system with the trust given to players to do it properly once games start, and how it defines roles without mandating exactly how they be filled on every trip down the floor. (No question some of this is a byproduct of Phil Jackson's coaching style, but the style is also a reflection of the system.) Done right, the Lakers' offense is elevated stuff in a lowest common denominator world, a throwback to days when the sports world (the whole world, really) wasn't wasn't continuously dissected in a way too often requiring players and coaches to take the path of least resistance.

Given the number of Lakers I (and most of you) watch, that their games don't look the same as every other team in the league is particularly appealing. Expect the Lakers to do it well, but celebrate that they do it differently. Appreciate that the Lakers can run great pick and rolls with most of their roster (particularly Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol), but don't need it to generate looks. Get excited by the understanding that even on days when the Lakers don't look good, they'll almost always still produce a handful of exceptional plays on the offensive end.

(I now step off the soap box... click below for more Lakers and NBA news.)

Hamstring!

It sounds like a bad musical, but really, it was just the major running subplot for the Lakers over their first 11 games as they waited for Pau Gasol's balky hammy to heal up. Thursday night, the curtain finally rose on Gasol's '09-'10 season, and the reviews (I'm already sick of this metaphor, but it's too late to turn back) were sterling. Tony Award quality, even. (Wow, that last one made me cringe... hackneyed, thy name is me.) 24 points, 13 boards, 35 minutes as the Lakers knocked off the Bulls 108-93. 

Gasol didn't expect so many minutes, or to be quite so effective, while taking advantage of an undersized Chicago frontcourt around the basket on both sides of the floor.   He seemed to have plenty of polish for a guy having played less full court hoops than most rec warriors over the last six weeks.

Nor was he the only positive from Thursday's easy win. With 21 points, Kobe Bryant passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (yes, the actor) and moved into second place on the list of all-time Lakers scoring leaders, trailing only Jerry West (yes, the actor) on one of the most impressive lists in basketball, given the talent the franchise has seen (Kobe talks about it here). The box score also notes four other Lakers in double figures, including a perfect shooting night for Derek Fisher.  The only real negative was a jammed right ankle for Andrew Bynum, suffered in the second half. He's listed as day-to-day, and we'll learn more about his condition today at practice.

With Gasol, the Lakers look like the Lakers, creating matchup problems all over the floor. "They have a lot of weapons. And talent," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. "It's one thing to be tall, but there's also being tall and talented, and they got both. So that helps."

More Lakers news, notes, and thoughts below...

After consecutive losses, the Lakers needed a strong response Tuesday night at Staples against the Detroit Pistons, a middling group playing without injured stars Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. They got it, for three quarters at least, in a 106-93 win. Kobe Bryant led the way with 40 points, the 100th time he's blown up for 40 or more (that's 100 more than me and AK... combined!) over the course of his career. Bryant missed his first four shots, but then went nuts, shaking off the effects of a strained right groin to finish 17-29 from the floor. He capped his night with a three pointer, but generally speaking continued to do his damage in the post, taking advantage of an undersized Ben Gordon in particular.

LA used a Kobe fueled Q2 (13 points for Bryant) to blow the game open, and eventually built the lead to 28. Yes, they (meaning the reserves) lost their discipline and structure in the fourth and let the Pistons back in- shouldn't happen- but overall it was a positive return to form for the purple and gold. 

Add in news that Pau Gasol is on track for a return, perhaps as soon as Thursday night against the Bulls, and the process of turning those frowns of Friday and Sunday upside-down was basically complete. Not that the healing kept Phil Jackson from skewering Gasol and his guest spot on CSI: Miami.

MORE LAKERS AND NBA NOTES...

Most of the available Lakers news was noted Monday night on the blog. Start with Kobe Bryant's balky groin, aggravated in Sunday's loss to the Rockets. He practiced Monday in El Segundo, and will suit up  tonight at home against Detroit. The bum hamstring that has sidelined Pau Gasol since early in the preseason is improving. He got some work in yesterday and is confident his recovery is finally on track. Gasol will be in street clothes tonight, but Thursday's tussle with the Bulls is still on the table. Then, of course, there's his acting career (Early reviews: "Damn near Newman-esque relative to this... Variety"). For Luke Walton, the news isn't good. He'll miss six weeks, minimum with a pinched nerve in his back.

Across the (NBA) universe, though, people are a'twitter (and a Twitter) regarding the future landing spot of former Grizzly (he wore the uni, even if briefly) Allen Iverson. Leon Rose, AI's agent, says his guy is just looking for the right fit, and will come off the bench under the right circumstances. Ken Berger of CBS Sports noted one scenario floated to him: AI to LA. Which leads to today's poll question:

I voted "No." If "Oh, hell no!" was a choice, I'd have voted for that. But maybe you feel differently? More news and notes below...

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration (the Lakers are, after all, 7-3 and the calendar reads Nov. 16), but the morning after LA's 101-91 loss to the Rockets Sunday night at Staples, Lakersville is an unhappy and angst-riddled place, filled with Morrissey albums, tax audits, and clips of the more crushing moments from Old Yeller.

As we noted last night, their shortcomings as a team were plentiful. The Lakers shot only 38% as a team, dragged down by a 5-20 night from Kobe Bryant, 3-13 from Derek Fisher, and another Large Pile O'misfires (also the name of AK's band in high school) from bench players not named Shannon Brown. Then there was the 60-38 rebounding advantage for the Rockets (and before you say, "It's because the Lakers missed so many shots!" note that Houston actually had more misses from the floor than did LA). Or the fact Houston rebounded from an early 16-2 deficit thanks to their customary tenacity and poise. There's more bad news in the box score, for those in the mood for something sad but lacking easy access to a copy of The Ice Storm. 

Arguably more upsetting than the final score or 24's shooting line was word that in the first quarter, Kobe re-aggravated a right groin injury originally suffered last weekend against the Hornets. While he says he won't miss time, Kobe acknowledged it was bothering him. "I've felt better," he said. It's certainly reasonable to believe the discomfort played a role in his poor shooting night, because Shane Battier didn't have much to do with it. 

In other injury news, Luke Walton missed Sunday night's game with a sore back. Pau Gasol, though, might just be on the road to recovery. Phil Jackson is "hopeful" Gasol will practice this week. We will now pause this regularly scheduled move to "Other Lakers News and NBA Notes" so you may knock on wood...

The beautiful southern California morning looks a lot better than the Lakers roster heading into Sunday night's game against the Hornets at Staples (6:30, FSW). Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum will both be on the sidelines, Gasol's seventh straight game in a suit, Bynum's second. The Hornets will start Devin Brown at the two next to Chris Paul, giving him the unenviable task of marking Kobe Bryant. Not sure how much time Brown has spent defending guys in the post, but given Kobe's performance Friday night against Memphis and the continuing absence of LA's bigs, expect that he'll get the opportunity tonight.

Many, many, many opportunities, actually.

Kobe's production in the post is one reason he says he's scoring more with less work (productive teammates help, too). Paul, conversely, is doing just about everything for the Hornets (and doing it incredibly well, averaging 28.5 ppg on nearly 64% shooting while dishing almost 10 assists a night). They're not winning much in the early going, something that isn't sitting well with the hypercompetitive PG. 

NOTE: Just a reminder, our Twitter feed has moved to latimesKbros. Thanks!

It was about as pretty as a Lohan family reunion these days, but when the dust settles, all anyone cares about is the final tally.  This one wrapped up at 103-102, the Lakers on top and the Rockets just short. I already summarized some high and low points from the contest during the intro to last  night's postgame chat, but here are a few more talking points to aid your mouth's mission:

• The uber-lowest issue development may have come with just seconds remaining to play. While delivering a pretty hard foul, Chuck Hayes wrenched Andrew Bynum's elbow and left the Laker center in very obvious discomfort. It's being listed as a sprain for the time being, with more tests and results to come.
  
  Hopefully, this will emerge one of those injuries that smarts mightily upon impact, but cools down fast with time and treatment. If Drew is forced to miss any games, aside from the obvious issues involving frontcourt depth (As Mike Bresnahan wryly notes, "Anyone ready for Lamar Odom at center?"), this put him even further behind the eight ball for a bigger goal: Increasing his familiarity playing alongside Pau Gasol, who's been cleared to practice and should return reasonably soon. 

Last Season: 29-53 (.354, 3rd in the Pacific Division, 10th in the Western Conference)

Key Additions: Drafted Stephon Curry. Also brought in Acie Law, Speedy Claxton, Devean George  and Mikki Moore, but if any of those guys become "key," the Warriors will have officially crossed into a realm scary enough to be the setting for the next installment of Saw.
Key Subtractions: Jamal Crawford, Marco Belinelli

(You just think the lil' guy is watching Warriors highlights from last season... Amazing how the color palate matches, though.)

The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Joan and Christina Crawford. The Nazis and the French Resistance. All examples of relationships functioning at a more harmonious level than the Golden State Warriors. While the assembled hoards in El Segundo spent Media Day desperately trying to prove the circus had come to town in the form of Ron Artest's social media smorgasbord and Lamar Odom's E!-tastic wedding, the real McCoy was taking place upstate, short only dancing bears and bearded ladies. Monta Ellis welcomed Curry to the locker room by declaring the Warriors wouldn't be able to win says there's no way the Warriors can win with both the two of them on floor at the same time. Stephen Jackson wants out, because, and I'm paraphrasing only slightly here, it's exceedingly obvious the team is run by nitwits, and the chances of him ever being on a winning squad in Oakland appear as likely as Paris Hilton being named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Hard to believe Captain Jack has already been suspended, thanks to his actions against the Lakers at the Forum. Two preseason games missed, something that, as an angry 10 year vet, I'm sure tore him up inside.

Last Season: 23-59 (.280, 5th in the Northwest Division, 13th in the Western Conference)

Key Additions: Drafted James Harden, BJ Mullins, traded for Kevin Ollie, Etan Thomas
Key Subtractions: Earl Watson, Damien Wilkins.

I'm willing to wager that a healthy portion of NBA teams- lottery and playoff squads alike- would trade their lot in life for what the Thunder have cooking in their big cast iron, high plains basketball kettle. A killer core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green, none older than 23, with more potential added in first rounder Harden. Scads of draft picks at their disposal. Cap space stretching to the tips of Oklahoma's vast horizon. A home city forgiving of their growing pains and just happy to have the team- any team, really- in town, meaning there's no rush to try and mess with the rebuilding blueprint and risk screwing things up in the process.

So intense has the love grown among fans and scribes alike for GM Sam Presti that it feels almost dirty, like he should be shrinkwrapped and put in the naughty section of the magazine rack. But it's all well deserved, which is why the man is smiling. You'd smile too if the future of your franchise was this bright.

As for this season, with the bottom of the Western Conference playoff race at least theoretically in question, the Thunder are a popular dark horse pick to slip in should any of last year's entrants leave the top eight. It's not as far-fetched a notion as it might seem at first glance. Yeah, OKC won only 23 games a year ago, but they started 1-16, then 3-29. After that, Durant and Co. were a still-bad-but-far-more-respectable 20-30. Five more wins there and the Thunder are a .500 team. Would that be enough to sneak in?

Sure, it takes a little imagination, but not the sort of hard drugs required to picture, say, the Kings playing deeper into April.

Los Angeles Clippers

Last Season: 19-63 (.232, 4th in Pacific Division, 14th in the Western Conference)

Key Additions: Drafted Blake Griffin, traded for Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Rasual Butler.
Key Subtractions: Zach Randolph, Paul Davis, Zach Randolph, Mike Taylor, Fred Jones, Zach Randolph, Zach Randolph, Alex Acker (I kid), Zach Randolph, Zach Randolph, and Zach Randolph.

(Look, it's Clipper Bear-rell! Cue collective groan...)

A Heaven's Gate franchise for nearly their entire existence, 2008-2009 may just have been their Gigli.Or vice versa. Or maybe it was their Meet Dave/Adventures of Pluto Nash. Whatever the cinematic comparison, for LA's other squad it was, even relative to a history fairly riddled with this sort of thing, a total disaster from start to finish. Last summer's triumph of landing Baron Davis immediately went sour for the Clippers when Elton Brand defected to Philadelphia. Davis showed up out of shape, got hurt, shot 37% when he did manage to play, and didn't get along with Mike Dunleavy. Essentially, he brought nothing to the floor except Kate Hudson. Davis was hardly the only problem. Marcus Camby was injured in the preseason. Ricky Davis got hurt, as did Chris Kaman. Jason Williams retired before he ever suited up. Maybe he had a vision?

It all served to kick the jersey maker into overdrive. Over the course of the season, trades- including perhaps the worst swap of the decade, bringing in Randolph and his tailor-made-for-bad-teams game and albatross of a contract- and injuries put 19 different guys in red, white, and blue.

Not exactly a recipe for continuity.