Get Ready For Lots Of 24

The basketball world will now get to see how deep these 2007-08 Los Angeles Lakers really are after losing starting center Andrew Bynum to a sprained knee.

Fortunately for the Lakers, Bynum will be back this season, but the void he leaves in the middle may cost the Lakers a top seed in the always competitive Western Conference. Especially when you consider his replacement to start for the Lakers is Mr. Stone Hands also known as Kwame Brown. I bet you Kobe Bryant is real happy about having Brown in the middle full-time again.

The loss of Bynum means we will start to see a more aggressive Bryant on the offensive end, and more double/triple teams on KB24.

Bryant has again re-invented himself this year by letting the game come to him; something he showed signs of the last couple of years. This will be a test for Bryant in that he may have to resort back to dropping 50 on opponents for the Lakers to stay atop the standings in the West. Or he can test the depth of his team by trusting them with the ball in their hands (well, maybe not Kwame's; when does the ball stay ever stay in those?).

Phil Jackson has been doing one of his best coaching jobs of his career with this Lakers squad, and will be tested as well in this time. Last year's squad got off to a great start as well, but faltered towards the end of the regular season due to injuries.

How will the Lakers respond to losing their big man in the middle? In the next eight weeks the Lakers will be facing the following top squads: Phoenix (twice), San Antonio, Dallas (twice), Portland (twice), and Detroit. And that game against the Pistons is part of a nine-game road trip for the Lakers. That road trip starts at the end of January, and goes deep into the month of February, a month in which the Lakers play 12 of their 15 games on the road.

The first test will come tonight, as the Lakers travel to Seattle to take on the Sonics. My prediction: Kobe goes off for 44 in a close game. If I were Jackson, I would start Roni Turiaf and have Brown come off in the bench for the center position.

Sad to know that Bynum was on his way to the most improved in the NBA this season, and that honor may be taken away from him after this sprained knee.