Scouting - Los Angeles Lakers

As it turns out, there is a couple new additions to the Rising Suns roster of writers and I'm one of them. I'm sure you've all (never) heard of me, so introductions are clearly unnecessary. Anyhow, I'll be trying to provide a mostly unbiased, objective point of reference and entertainment for anyone hapless enough to run into my various posts. This particular post will feature a scouting report of all the Lakers players, some of their tendencies, strong points, weak points, and how they match up with their counterpart on the Suns. Just doing the starting 5 (Well, assuming Smush Parker starts over Jordan Farmar) for now. I'll probably throw in a bit about the key bench players at a later time, preferably before Sunday when we start our road to the finals.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%
Smush Parker	PG	6'4	180 lbs.	30.0	11.1	2.5	2.8	1.4	0.2	43.7%	36.5%
Scouting Report

Smush Parker is the starting PG for the Los Angeles Lakers, but really doesn't have much in the way of point guard skills, though that's not strictly necessary in his case due to the fact that all he has to do as the point guard in the triangle system is run the ball up court and give it to whoever is initiating the offense. (Usually Luke Walton, Kobe Bryant, or Lamar Odom) Smush Parker is a good ball handler, and rarely loses the ball in the open floor. Can dribble left and right, but can't finish very well going to his left, so expect whoever is guarding him to try and push him left. Is a fairly good slasher going to his right, and can also finish fairly well going right. At 6'4, he's bigger than most point guards. Has long arms and active hands, is a big threat to get steals in the passing lanes and on the ball. Can also play fairly good man defense due to his quickness, plays Nash better than quite a few of the other point guards in the league. Has a decent shooting stroke, but is very streaky. One night he may be hitting his open jumpers, the next he may be going 2-9 from the field. Confidence has been in the gutters, as Phil Jackson has been very inconsistent in how he has been handling Smush. Due to this, Smush has been unhappy of late and hasn't been playing as well as he is capable of. Will be matched up with Nash and Leandro for the majority of the time he's on the floor. If he starts scoring in bunches, Marion will probably be put on him to cool him off. (Jordan Farmar has been starting of late, not exactly sure how the situation will play out though.)

Name	Position	Height	Weight	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%
Kobe Bryant	SG	6'7	220 lbs.	40.8	31.6	5.7	5.4	1.4	0.5	46.3%	34.4%
Scouting Report

Kobe is, quite simply, the most talented player on the planet. Offensively speaking, he's led the league in scoring the last two years, and has had some stretches of games that put him in the record books. (4 straight games with 50 or more, two of those were 60+ points. Jeez.) Can take and make nearly any shot within 30 feet of the basket, contested or uncontested. Can get to the hoop and create contact. Has a nearly unstoppable fade away jumper, any Suns fan who watched him drain the clutch fade away over Boris and Shawn know that all the defense can do is watch and hope. Due to his ability to take and make ridiculous shots, Kobe often falls in love with his own ability and starts taking shots that he has no business taking, however, poor shot selection on his part happens all the time. Has a tremendous post up game for a guard. Is a very effective passer, when he bothers getting his teammates involved. A lot of the time he stops trusting his teammates to make the easy buckets and he starts launching up bad shots. (He makes more of them than he rightfully ought to as well.) Has very good court awareness and knowledge of the game though, and understands how the game is supposed to be played. Is a great defender, but doesn't seem to bring his A-game on offense nearly as much as he ought to. Gets lazy when he's guarding players who aren't very talented offensively, which can lead to a lot of open shots from the perimeter for his man. Will be matched up with Raja Bell for the majority of the time, D'Antoni actually makes it a point to sub Raja in when Kobe is going in, and sub Raja out whenever Kobe is going out. Occasionally Marion is put on Kobe, and once in a while Barbosa is put on him. If he starts hitting shots that he has no business making, expect to start seeing double teaming from whoever is guarding Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Ronny Turiaf or Jordan Farmar.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%
Luke Walton	SF	6'8	232 lbs.	33.0	11.4	5.0	4.3	1.0	0.4	47.4%	38.7%
Scouting Report

Luke Walton is a facilitator on offense, primarily being the one who sets up the offense or who the offense is run through from 14-20 feet from the basket. Has excellent passing skills, especially at the SF position, and has a high basketball IQ to compliment this. Has become a fairly good shooter, having shot over 40% from 3 point land for a good bit of the season. Has a decent post up game, but is generally used to a nearby defender or when he gets switched off onto a smaller man. Is an average defender at best, but understands where to be on the floor and rarely makes slip ups where his man just shrugs free of him. Not good at scoring off the dribble. Not a good finisher. Not especially athletic, has trouble guarding quicker players. Is stronger than you would think by looking at him. Expect Marion, James Jones and Boris Diaw to switch back and forth guarding him. Occasionally Barbosa gets stuck guarding the SF spot, and the Lakers generally try to capitalize by posting up Walton from about 15 feet out. If he's playing poorly, Nash might get stuck on him so Nash doesn't have to do entirely too much, but don't count on it, as a situation similar to what happens to Barbosa will probably get abused, and Nash isn't as strong, long, or quick as Barbosa so it works out much worse as Barbosa can actually fend him off.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%
Lamar Odom	SF/PF	6'10	230 lbs.	39.3	15.9	9.8	4.8	1.0	0.6	46.8%	29.7%
Scouting Report

After an explosive, amazing start to the season (after abusing the Suns in the playoffs the year before, going off for 19-11-5 in the playoffs) For a while, Lamar was actually leading the Lakers to wins with Kobe out of the line up. From there Lamar ran into quite a few injury problems, and his shooting, finishing, and overall game has been off since his shoulder injury. Of late he's been tentative and careful of his shoulder, not going for rebounds as hard as he normally does and not finishing strong at the rim. Very rarely do you see a player of Odom's size and strength have such good passing skills and ball handling ability. Tends to float around when he doesn't have the ball, doesn't play well off the ball. Has a decent post up game, but can't finish with his right hand very well. Outside shooting has been very suspect since the shoulder injury, has mostly just been trying to finish the easy ones at the rim. Decent defender, doesn't seem to put much effort into it though as he has all the tools to be an excellent defender. (Very long arms, very quick for his size, and is strong.) Has killed the Suns in the past, so I don't feel confident at all in his slump since his injuries. Expect Boris and Marion to be on him for the majority of the time. James Jones may see some time against him as well, as long as he can stay in the game. (Which means he'll have to start being able to shoot the ball.) Is a tough match-up for Marion due to his strength, tends to have good games against him.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%
Kwame Brown	PF/C	6'11	270 lbs.	27.6	8.4	6.0	1.8	1.0	1.2	59.1%	0.0%
Scouting Report

Absolutely massive. Is 6'11 (maybe 7'0), and 270 pounds of muscle. One of the most athletic players of his size in the league, can definitely get up. Despite this, however, his offensive game is rather limited. If he manages to catch the ball in the post, he has a semi-decent baby hook going right. Can't finish with his left. Has brick hands, has a lot of trouble keeping hold on entry passes, bounce passes, and most anything not directly aimed at his chest. Defensively underrated. Good at stripping the ball if his man faces up. Is big enough that you aren't going to back him down unless you're a mammoth. (This includes Amare, as I've never seen Amare successfully back him down, though Amare is fast enough to just blow by him.) Has fairly good timing on his shotblocking, though he bites on fakes fairly easily. Is, thusly, foul prone and has a hard time staying on the court if he's playing a good offensive player. Isn't comfortable coming too far out of the paint to defend his man. Only a decent rebounder, especially for someone his size. Has gotten better at finishing close to the hoop. Expect Amare and Kurt Thomas to be matched up with him the majority of the time. Boris Diaw may come down and play him in the post if the Lakers play a big line-up with Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Andrew Bynum all in the line up at the same time.