Kobe's Team

The Lakers began their season last night with a bang, defeating the Denver Nuggets 99-97 in a thrilling overtime finish. While the end result was positive, the Lakers still have a long way to go if they want to be a playoff team this season.

The key to the Lakers season is Lamar Odom, not Kobe Bryant. We know what Kobe can do. He performed like Kobe last night. He shot a bit too much, but his scoring output was needed. Kwame Brown looked lost at the very end of the game (at least he got that offensive rebound), and gave the ball to Kobe for the win, because he had no idea what to do. Kobe delivered, as the team's star player should.

But the jury is still out on the Lamar Odom point-forward experiment. He definitely didn't resemble anything close to Scottie Pippen last night. Odom might have the skills to bring the ball up the floor, but he often looked uncomfortable, shooting just 2-13. His seven assists and nine rebounds were encouraging, and he's shown signs that he can grow into the role.

In the meantime, the Lakers may have found a jewel in Smush Parker. Who expected Parker to drop 20 points on the Nuggets, including a coast-to-coast slam dunk over Andre Miller? Parker became that second scoring option the Lakers badly need, for a night at least. Last year Chris Mihm socred 20 points on opening night against the Nuggets, so who knows if this will continue, or if teams will quickly figure Parker out.

Devean George played a surprisingly decent game, and his defense on Carmelo Anthony clearly made a difference. Kwame Brown showed a handful of flashes, but he also seemed to disappear at times, and has a long way to go before his acquisition is justified. Andrew Bynum had a fun little six minutes on the floor. He had a nice block, and hopefully he can slowly work his way into the rotation. Brian Cook had his shots falling for a stretch, but it's still frustrating to see him never play close to the basket. Aaron McKie looks done physically. It doesn't look like the McKie-point guard experiment is going to work out.

Kobe Bryant still does a lot on his own. And he can be both dazzling and frustrating at the same time. In the end, he won the game for the Lakers. But he's going to need Lamar Odom to step up, and Smush Parker to continue playing like an All-Star, in order for this team to dramatically improve off of last year's performance.

Oh yeah, the Clippers with Sam Cassell looked good too, winning at Seattle. I've always believed Cassell was one of the NBA's most underrated players. Cynical Clippers fans may remember the team clobbered the Sonics in Seattle on opening night last year. But this Clipper team is more talented with Cassell and Mobley, and should make the playoffs.