With Julius Randle out, is there still hope for the Lakers this year? Will Kobe Bryant have a bounce-back season?
The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to rebound from a season, in which they went a franchise worst 27-55. Their superstar Kobe Bryant, who is as healthy as he has been since his achilles injury towards the end of the 2013 season, looked good in the home opener Tuesday night.
The key to the season revolves around Bryant’s health, the Lakers defense and is now given the tremendous task in coping with the loss of rookie Julius Randle.
Randle suffered a broken leg in last night’s 108-90 loss to the Houston Rockets, adding to the long line of misfortunes that have mired the franchise the last couple years.
Randle’s status will be updated on Wednesday.
On a brighter note, Bryant scored 19 points and had two assists and three rebounds in the losing effort. Bryant looked terrific in the offseason as he averaged 26.7 points in his last three preseason games.
If Bryant remains healthy and suits up for at least 70 games, the Lakers will at least be competitive even with Randle losing time.
The new additions of Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin, Ed Davis, Jordan Clarkson and Ronnie Price should make up for the losses of Kendall Marshall, Pau Gasol, and Jodie Meeks.
Lin should be a good fit for the Lakers, as he is terrific at penetrating to the basket and finding open teammates. He is also a
better athlete than many think.
The Lakers are hoping that Boozer (left) has a revival season this year after a below average season with the Chicago Bulls last year. He averaged 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds last year in 28.2 minutes.
The numbers were solid, but it was his mediocre defense and efficiency (46%) that made him easy to forget in Chicago.
Davis on the other hand can bring something to the Lakers that they don’t have as a team, which is defense. Davis is a terrific rim protector, as he uses his size (6’10”) and length to change shots as shown in the preseason.
Last season the Lakers ranked 29th in the league in points allowed (109.2).
With new head coach Byron Scott, Laker fans should expect at least a slight improvement on the defensive end. Scott’s style is much different than Mike D’Antoni’s “outscore the opposition” style. Scott has shown with past New Orleans Hornets and New Jersey Nets teams that he can get his team to defend well.
Prediction: Bryant will average 24 points, Nick Young will score in bunches, and Lin will be solid, but that wont be enough for the Lakers to make the postseason. Defense from Davis and Wesley Johnson wont be enough for the Lakers and they will struggle to score easy baskets.
Lakers will win between 35-40 games and will just play spoiler for those teams who are in the playoff race.
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