The NBA season has started, and the four California teams
have big questions to answer.
Will the Warriors find the chemistry?
If not for a suspension on the final day last year, the
Warriors would have had the same starting lineup for all 82
games. That lineup produced their best record in a decade.
Only Eric Dampier was back opening day. Gilbert Arenas and
Antawn Jamison signed elsewhere, Troy Murphy is injured, and
Jason Richardson was suspended.
A consistent season has given way to pushing the
inexperienced Mike Dunleavy, Jr., and waiting for the
inconsistent Nick Van Exel as starters. It will take Eric
Musselman longer to find his core group and that hurts the
Warriors out of the gate.
Can the Lakers just shut up and play?
Some things never change. The Lakers are favorites, and
Kobe and Shaq feud. Kobe Bryant was fined, thankfully, for
mouthing off and sat out the opening win vs. Dallas with,
ahem, "knee problems" (remember, that's why he was
in Colorado in the first place).
The Dallas game was indicative of how the Lakers' season
could go: no Kobe, and Gary Payton becoming a leader. After
five years, Kobe continues acting like the teenager he was
when he entered the league.
Kobe has to realize he is not the best player on the team
anymore, nor unique in the league as a
straight-from-high-school talent. Kobe must prove his value
all over again.
Has the Kings' time to shine passed?
Vlade Divac stares down the end of his career with no NBA
title to show for it. Chris Webber misses a month due to
injury, and then is suspended for his role in a federal
court case. Mike Bibby has to run the show, despite
nostalgia for the flashier Jason Williams.
Bibby and Peja Stojakovic could become the best shooting
tandem in the league if the Kings' big men and newcomers
produce enough to prevent teams in the center-laden West
from always throwing zones at them.
Can the L.A. Blue Devil Alumni Club produce some Blue
Devil success?
Mike Dunleavy, version 1.0 takes the helm of the
Clippers. The Clippers uncharacteristically kept their big
money talent in former Duke teammates Elton Brand and Corey
Maggette. The duo reached the top of the college mountain
with Mike's son, and could pull Staples' other tenant out of
the pits.
This may be the start of the Clippers' leadership
building a competitor and not merely a farm team. With Brand
out with a foot injury, Maggette must be the
"veteran." Their youth (the active 12 average 23
years, eight months) puts them a year away from the playoff
race.
EMBELE AWIPI hosts a radio show on KNRY 1240. His column
runs Mondays. E-mail embo1240@yahoo.com.
