Shaq's First Appearance as a Phoenix Sun
Tonight Shaq played his first game with the Phoenix Suns, facing the Los Angeles Lakers on ESPN. It was a very exciting and entertaining game. The Lakers lead most of the way, but it was close through much of the game, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters as the Suns kept crawling back to within 2 or 3 points. In the end, the Lakers prevailed, winning 130-124, with a great game from Kobe - 41 pts, 5 boards, 3 dimes, and 2 picks.
Shaq's Play
Shaq logged 29 minutes and looked fairly spry and active throughout the game. In fact, he appeared to be a bit overactive late in the game, diving for a couple of loose balls, one that resulting in a costly foul on Pau Gasol. Shaq had a nice dunk, lobbed to him from Nash, and a couple of good 4 to 6 foot baby hooks that dropped. He also picked up 3 assists, with a couple of nice entry passes from the high post.
The Pau-er of Pau (Sorry)
Having Pau Gasol join the Lakers has been like a dream come true. Sure, he's not a dominant big man. He plays away from the basket often and, as a result, pulls in far fewer boards than you'd expect from a seven footer. He also isn't the strongest player, so he doesn't box out as well or take up the necessary space to guarantee the board. In tonight's match, there were a couple of times when he had inside position on Shaquille, but wasn't able to stop Shaq from overpowering him and getting the ball. Despite his shortcomings on the glass, he has a nice 15-18 foot spot up jump shot, decent handles, and he knows how to move without the ball. Because he plays further out from the basket, he has many opportunities to cut to the basket away from the ball, and he does this with great speed and finishing ability. Kobe might be backing the ball in, or Lamar making a cut to the basket, and WHAM, here comes Gasol swooping in from the backside, catching his defender watching the ball handler, and he gets the pass and dunks it home.
Pau contributed 29 points, 2 assists, and a block in tonight's win. He only brought down 3 rebounds (and one was putting back up a short layup he missed).
Best Player Who Receives the Least Attention - Lamar Odom
Lamar Odom plays in the shadow of Kobe, but he really is talented. His length, speed, and strength help him rack up double-double after double-double. Tonight was no exception. Despite a frustrating game in the sense that he missed a handful of layups that should have gone down, Lamar still managed to score 22 points and grab 11 boards. Lamar is in a great position with this Lakers team. He has the best basketball player in the League on his team, who commands so much attention from the other team. Gasol's away from the basket play keeps the other team's big man further out, and Lamar is usually matched up against shooting forwards an inch or two shorter and certainly not as long. The net result is that Lamar is able to pick up many defensive rebounds, score clean up points, make cuts to the basket without the ball, and so on. And just wait until Bynum gets back and starts demanding double teams down on the block.
I have to say that this year's Laker team - especially with the Gasol pickup - is very exciting to watch. I haven't been this jazzed about the Laker lineup since 2004, when Gary Payton and Karl Malone signed up. The Lakers really have a solid roster with great depth at every position. As I noted earlier, their second squad could outplay most teams in the East.
This is shaping up to be a truly great NBA season! So many great teams. So much talent. So much fun basketball being played. I can hardly wait for the playoffs!