LA Lakers Takeaways from Second Week of NBA Preseason

Even though a lot of the Los Angeles Lakers' weaknesses and deficiencies have been exposed during the preseason, some positives are evident as well.

Although their brand of play hasn't generated a lot of preseason wins, there is a definite chemistry and cohesion that was not apparent from them last season.

If the Lakers can use the remainder of the preseason to clearly outline the rotation and player roles, they should be a competitive force when the season starts.

 

The Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman Dynamic

While Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard did develop some chemistry down the stretch, they did not seem to have the same rapport that Gasol and Chris Kaman are already developing this early in the season.

This quickly developed cohesion may be due to the fact that both players know their roles. While Gasol and Howard had to go through a weird transition period, in which neither really knew what was expected of them, it is clear this time around that Gasol is the primary interior option.



Kaman knows his role and thrives in it.

As a rebounding force and a supplementary interior scorer, Kaman uses his ability to shoot the jumper and move without the ball to get baskets off of the attention focused on Gasol.

The two are also excellent passers for big men and are able to get their teammates involved out of the high post and with their backs to the basket.

Although Kaman isn't the passer Gasol is, or the rebounding threat that Howard was for the Lakers, he does both relatively well and is a much more versatile offensive player than Superman.



In the three preseason games in which they've played together, the two haven't scored fewer than 25 combined points despite both playing just a little over 20 minutes per game each. Both players have also been cleaning the glass well, combining for over 15 rebounds in two of t...

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