What a wild two game stretch...

I really couldn't have asked for more from the two game mini-series with the Warriors. Being as all three of our real centers are hurt we were forced to play small ball with them both games. Obviously this led to very exciting matchups. Here are a few of my observations:

• Lamar Is a Beast: If only he could play the Warriors or Suns every day. Being clearly the most talented big man on the court Lamar owned the Warriors. Posting back to back 20 rebound games was amazing, as was playing all 53 minutes of game two. Don't forget how well he played aginst Amare during both of our post-season matchups. It will be interesting to see how they play against each other if we meet them in the playoffs this year. It is becoming ever less likely that Lamar, Bynum, and Gasol will all be on the same court this year so it will be necessary for Lamar to keep up this effort with Gasol back as Gasol lacks and strong inside force.
  
• We need out big men back: This seems almost hypocritical after what I said above, but it is still true. As well as Lamar played we were lucky to win one of those games. With a dominant inside presense we should have no problem beating either the Suns or Warriors. Without one we will see more games like the last two days, entertaining but who knows who will win. Plus, with them out Kobe had clearly been forcing the issue. His assist are down, his shots are way up, and his shooting percentage is way down. He looked so comfortable with Gasol and clearly the whole team was flowing better. Clearly we need atleast Gasol back to make a deep run, and probably Bynum to win it all.
• Our Defense needs help: Almost every other team in the West has a truly dominate point guard: Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, and Allan Iverson just to name a few. The biggest problem we are having is dribble penetration. Whenever Fisher or Farmar try to man up they end up fouling. This was looked over before because you had either Bynum or Gasol with Odom to clog up the paint. With them out it is being exploited by every good team we play. We will have to sure this up, along with getting the big guys back, to go deep in the playoffs.

Well that's it for now. We played a sloppy two games but still managed to win one and remain on top of the West. I can't wait to watch the next few weeks. Till next time...