THIS Lakers Team Could Win Something

Does Bynum have what it takes to keep Laker fans happy? (AP Photo/Yahoo)

This team. The one that played last night against the Clippers. A lot of the east-coasters missed out on a good game here in the west.

I love the rivalry that's brewing between the Lakers and Clippers. A friend of mine described the NBA best by saying so many of the games 'feel like the playoffs'. I think he hit a key point right on the head, the atmosphere of the games seems completely different. There is more emotion in these games, more emotion than we fans are accustomed to seeing in the regular season.

This emotion is allowing for a lot of new rivalries to sprout up, we saw last night that the Pacers and Bulls could have something brewing, the Lakers and Clippers are starting to butt heads, and the Thunder are just pissing everyone off.

The Lakers Are Contenders

World Peace has a large part to play with this years Lakers team.

I'm a member of the camp that believes any team with Kobe Bryant has a chance to compete in the playoffs. Not necessarily a title, but a team with Kobe is always competitive. In order to contend for a title you need a little more. You need a good supporting cast, a good second option, and maybe even a third good option if you're lucky.

Look at the Lakers. Tell me what they have.

Once you get past Kobe, they have a newly emerging second option in Andrew Bynum (someone who I believe could quickly evolve into the best Center in the league), and a trusty third option in Gasol (who has been the number two option for the past four seasons). If MWP formally known as the formidable Ron Artest continues to play with the same inspiration that I have seen glimpses of so far this season, then the Lakers have yet another class player to add to the mix.

MWP can easily soften the blow of losing Lamar Odom, and gives the Lakers a potent scoring threat off the bench. As long as he's playing his game, World Peace can still play a pretty effective offensive game.

Going On The Record Now

Bynum is becoming a monster in this league.

I'm going on the record now: I believe that Andrew Bynum has the potential to be better than Dwight Howard. I said it. Laugh, because I know a lot of you will want to, but after you've done that, think for a minute. Andrew Bynum is 2 years younger than Dwight and he's been in the league for one less year, so by the time he's Dwight's age he'll have been in the league for one more year than comparable Dwight Howard.

Could This Be Coach Howland's Last Year In Westwood?

If this season ends in disappointment, Bruin fans shouldn't look much further than Howland.

The title kind of says it all, but just to reaffirm my beliefs, I think coach Howland could be coaching his last season here at UCLA. It isn't because I think Howland is a bad coach, though I do lose sleep over his lack of offensive innovation; but rather, his inability to keep players around.

Just in the three and a half years that I've been here at UCLA, coach Howland has lost Jrue Holliday, J'Mison Morgan, Drew Gordon, Malcolm Lee (that's four of the infamous "fab five"), Tyler Honeycutt, Mike Moser, Chace Stanback, and Matt Carlino. Sure, a couple of those guys went pro (prematurely), and others decided to leave (while some were either forced off the team or decided they were better off elsewhere).

Jim Mora and UCLA Football

Jim Mora at his opening press conference. 

I'll admit, when I heard about UCLA hiring Jim Mora Jr. late Friday night (I mean LATE Friday night), I was very disappointed. What a fall from grace. With guys like Mike Leach and Chris Petersen on our board (I say OUR board, but who knows who Guerrero had on his list) in the beginning, to end up with someone like Mora was upsetting.

That's behind me now though, Mora is UCLA's guy like it or not, and I'm behind him (as all UCLA fans should be). However, let's not mistake support for blind faith. As soon as Mora begins to stutter, or make mistakes, I'll be one of the first to point them out, but until then why should we bad mouth the guy. He hasn't done anything wrong yet.